To Be Whole
by mizutanitony
Summary: After the war with the Reapers. Garrus and the others search for Shepard to bring her home. Will contain adult language, a bit of smut, and of course violence and scenes of mental anguish. Prequel to my one shot The Entry. Formerly called "Finding Her"
1. Chapter 1

Thanks to my one-shot "The Entry" I've decided my attempt at a Garrus and FemShep fic to well. Bring up why that journal entry exists. Post ME3 of course with a little bit more closure. Not exactly a happy ending, but you know hey we all can't have them. Though Garrus and Shepard can and will get there's along with a few others of our favorite friends. Please READ "THE ENTRY" It'll help things make more sense when a certain conversation I have planned happens. Mostly about my FemShep as a kid though at the risk of spoilers. But your call.

Also to tell you the truth I'm not going to have the Normandy be marooned on some backwater planet. Rather let's just say thatThe explosion of the Citadel caused a burning in the Earth's atmosphere giving it that weird look . I think Bioware got a little lazy with some of their background art and character design *COUGH TALI COUGH* anyway I love this series and here's anew series for you all to enjoy to help me get inspired to write along side my original fictions! And of course the Relays are just shut down. For awhile and also rating is because of well...things that'll happen later.

Chapter 1

He stood atop the crumbling building. His visor was blinking every few minutes as it had been for days. The tech was wearing out from damage, but he had more important things to do with his time and it was still working for what he needed it to do so he didn't mind the occasional fritz. Though truth be told the constant cutting in and out of the music in his ear was more annoying than the occasional blink. Still he did nothing as he scanned the ruin of the city called London.

It had been nearly a week since Shepard had disappeared. The Reapers were destroyed along with several thousand geth and unfortunately EDI. No one knew why but Shepard and he wanted nothing more to find her and get some answers. His Valiant was shaking in his hands as he looked around. It was all rubble for the most part. Bodies of Reaper forces littered the grounds and worst of all were the Reapers and he just wanted to shoot them all over again.

It was their fault that she was gone. Their fault that he'd barely slept over the last few years, and now after so long of fighting rest was out of his reach.

The crews around him were making noises. The machines of the humans and other members of the armada were busy removing the bodies. Separating allied troops from their enemies, and engineers were working on building temporary housing units and hospitals. Many of his friends had gone into the hospitals.

Kaidan, James, Jack, and Liara were all being treated and would be released soon. He'd gotten off with some burns and a bruised ribs and a dislocated shoulder. Miranda and Javik had unfortunately perished in the fighting. Miranda was able to pull off an amazing feat and take down a Reaper with her fighter squad by exposing a weakness in their target. It was a victory but a loss that was felt no matter your personal feelings for her.

Javik had sacrificed himself in a showdown with a Reaper that was trying to kill him and James. The Prothean died in his attempt, but so did his prey and he was given an honorary burial along side the others who had fallen.

Kirrahe and Wrex made it out with minimal injury but they still felt the losses and many were worried about Joker who was found crashed in the jungles of a place called South America along with the rest of the crew and the Normandy itself. The Reapers had ignored a portion of that land in hopes that the plants would help the next cycle.

The crew and Dr. Michel were fine, but with Joker's condition he was touch and go and Dr. Chakwas had made a special trip from the Crucible to help him.

Garrus scratched at the new scars on his face and growled loudly as he pulled the Paladin from his hip holster and shot at a nearby Reaper. The war was over but the pain was still fresh in everyone's minds. Several of his friends were dead, no word on his family and with the Mass Relays not functioning many people were unsure of how they'd all survive.

The quarians, Rachni, and salarians were working round the clock to get the technology up and running. They were examining the code the Reaper's used in hopes that it had something to do with an IFF that was keeping them from restarting them. And while there had been mild success they were still a ways off from getting them working.

Behind him he heard a noise and turned with his pistol, the setting for armor piercing set but he was prepared to fire an impact round and send the threat off the edge of the building. The threat however turned out to be Wrex who had his shotgun prepped as well.  
They stared at each other for a moment before slipping the guns back into their homes and embraced as brothers.

"To what do I owe the honor ,Wrex?" His scars hurt as he spoke and his jaw was stiff from the missing plates around it.

The krogan snorted loudly, his new scars stretching and bleeding a bit as his muscles twitched. "You know, I hate to say it, but I'll be glad to be heading back to Tuchanka."

The remaining mandibles on his face twitched as Garrus heard this. "You're not staying? I thought you'd be staying to help in the search."

Wrex scratched the back of his neck and shook his head. "I never said I was leaving this second. I'm going to stay behind with a small squad. The remainder of the soldiers I've brought are going to be starting the trip home. It'll take longer than we want, but I won't unleash a bunch of pissed of krogan on Shepard's planet."

He looked at Garrus whose eyes were focused on destroyed city. "You think she's alive don't you?"

"If she's dead then I'll gladly pitch myself off a cliff."

Wrex raised an eyebrow at this statement. "Really? So what Liara was telling the truth about you stealing Shepard out from under her." Garrus's fingers twitched at the statement and Wrex let out a laugh. "Relax, Vakarian. What you do on your personal time is none of my business."

The sniper scratched his scars and chuckled. "Yeah, well from what she's told me I'm a bit better than Liara in certain aspects of the bedroom."

The warlord let out a groan. "Keep that to yourself, Turian. I'd rather not know what those fangs of yours have bitten into."

Letting out a loud laugh, the turian gave his friend a smile. "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

"What?"

Garrus waved his hand. "It's an old human phrase."

Grumbling the krogan turned looked out over the wastes. "You need to get back to your own people."

"I would if I could, Wrex. But, she needs me."

Wrex turned to his friend. "Are you sure about that, Vakarian?"

The krogan received no answer.

The next morning, Garrus awoke in his bunk to the sound of trucks rolling by. Removing himself from the hard mattress, he pulled his gun out from his foot locker and slipped it into it's holster again and stumbled out into the cold morning. He hated how Earth's temperature and climate could change so quickly, but it couldn't be helped.

Nodding to a few turian subordinates he headed to the command post where he met up with Admiral Hackett and the Primarch.

"Garrus, glad to see you're up and moving. Is the shoulder any better today?"

He nodded but kept left arm in its sling. "I'm supposed to check in with Dr. Chakwas after this meeting." He looked around at the piles of data pads and paperwork. "I take it the rebuilding isn't going as quickly as we want it to?"

Hackett shook his head and did his trademark scratching of his chin. "It's going better than expected. Earth did suffer large amounts of damage but we were lucky they didn't hit major resource spots for lumber and minerals. Humanity was their target so only large areas of the populace were hit. Still infrastructures are down and along with the rest of the galaxy there is little to no trade routes. And thanks to the Crucible we're all effectively stranded here for as long as it takes all of our engineers to figure out how to get the blasted relays turned back on."

"I talked with Wrex yesterday. He said he would be sending a large portion of the krogan army back to Tuchanka."

Primarch Victus nodded and let out a sigh. "In truth we do need them to leave. The krogan have no enemy to fight here and with a large portion of the our military here it is a wise move. Wrex has shown skills as a leader keeping his people under control. But again just like with the relays it will take some time for us to send them home, but there is a plan for that."

Garrus was curious at this. "What plan is that, sir?"

"We're working on repurposing Reaper drive cores to be retrofitted into our ships."

He felt his mandibles flinch at this announcement. "Are you sure that's wise? We don't know the amounts of power we're dealing with or if it could possibly bring a Reaper back online."

"There's nothing to worry about, Mr. Vakarian. I will be heading this project."

Admiral Xen appeared and took her place at the table. "We've figured out a way to safely remove the cores from some of the smaller assault machines. Their drive cores have to power much more devastating weaponry than most of our ships, along with the being able to transport such a large amount of mass as well as survive trips in deep space. By our calculations repurposing one of these cores could grant a ship of ours speeds fast enough to reach a system like the Krogan DMZ in a matter of days." She tapped the front of her mask and Garrus could tell from many months around Tali what she was thinking.

"And I take it you haven't figured out how to do that without killing the crew flying the ship?"

"Or without causing a massive amount of collateral damage."

"So, you're looking for a pilot, a ship, and a crew. I think I'm fresh out of those at the moment."

With a wave of her hand, Xen sighed. "I don't need the Normandy. I already have the schematics for the retrofit and I can apply it to other ships. If there was one thing Shepard did before she went and got herself blown up it was to upgrade that ship as much as she did."

Garrus felt the urge to pull out his gun, but was stopped by one an Alliance soldier who shook his head.

Though the scene was not lost on the admiral. "My apologies for the crass words, Vakarian. I meant no offense. Truly my people are indebted to the Commander and I meant my words with the utmost respect. But, well tensions are high and our people must return to our home world just like the rest of the armada or else we will not last long."

There was a sincerity to her words and Garrus felt his anger subside, but not by much. Putting the gun back, the turian looked between the leaders and asked. "So what is the plan then if you don't need the Normandy?"

Xen turned her attention back to the turian. "Simple, we need Shepard."

Garrus couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "Really? Shepard? Why? We don't even know if she's alive."

"And yet you were still planning on attempting to form a rescue party, if I'm not mistaken?"

He froze in place at Victus' accusatory tone.

"Well, I guess you could call it that." There was no reason for him to lie and doing so would do more harm than good to his plans. "But what does this have to do with getting everything working again."

"It's the Catalyst, Vakarian."

"The Catalyst? You're telling me that we need Shepard for the Catalyst? The Catalyst was on the Citadel. We can't access it because the Citadel is destroyed."

"That's not necessarily true, Garrus." The voice came from behind him and when he turned he saw Liara limping toward him with Kaidan, Kirrahe, Wrex, and to his surprise Urz.

"Are you sure you two should be here? If I'm not mistaken you have a few more days before discharge don't you?"

Liara and Kaidan laughed while Kirrahe stood off to the side analyzing the situation as Kaidan spoke.

"We have about four more days of bed rest but Liara was called in to give her analysis on the situation."

"It seems only fitting as I was the one who handed over the device blue prints to the Alliance. But I digress," she pulled up her omni-tool and moved to a file before enlarging it.

"What is that?"

The file was a mash of symbols that Garrus could identify as prothean but without the cipher he had no clue what they said.

"With the help of Javik and some deeper research I was able to deduce that the Catalyst was not actually an item, but a being. An organic that was supposed to bring about an end to the Cycle once the Crucible was inserted into the Citadel."

They were all quiet for a moment until Garrus asked, "And you're thinking, Shepard is somewhere still in the Citadel?"

"It is possible, but I'm"

Her voice trailed off and Garrus knew why. He did his best to fight the tears but one escaped. "I understand, Liara. But," he took a deep breath, "she deserves to come home."

For a few moments they were silent until Garrus said, "You have four days people. Get some rest." And without another word he left the command post.

When he arrived back at his bunk, he removed the dog tags and stared at them.

Lieutenant-Commander Leela Shepard  
Service No. 5923-AC-2826

He pressed them to his mouth and mimicked a kiss as best he could. "I'll bring you home."


	2. Chapter 2

So it looks like there's some positive vibe about the first chapter so yeah let's go. No reviews yet but maybe you'll be getting into this soon! Decided to throw in journal entries here and there to give Leela a presence in the story.

* * *

Chapter 2

_I hate this. Everything about it, but I need to do it. Once again another group of recruits from Arcturus somehow found out about me and tried to make my life a living hell. My C.O. did nothing about it and neither did the other recruits. I'm the only one left from my original group. The others all made it to at least N4 status and decided to drop out, but I need to stay despite the circumstances and again I had to prove myself with my fists while everyone watched. I'm sporting another black eye and my nose was almost broken again but the C.O put a stop to it just before I got my face crushed and was sent off to the female medical officer along with the woman who'd started the fight. The guy who fought with the girl at least ended up worse than me, but he'd get off with a slap on the wrist most likely._

_The medical officer has asked to put in a word with the brass but I told her not to. I have something to prove to Dad. I told him I'd do it and he's waiting to see me come out with that N7 logo on my armor and I won't let him down. Tomorrow I'm back into the fray. My eye should be healed up and it's marksmanship training along with hand to hand before survival training in the jungle. Maybe once we're out there I'll be able to earn some goddamned respect._

_I love you, Mom and Dad. Hopefully you'll never have to read these things._

_September 5th 2177_

Garrus shut the journal and stretched. He walked over to the weapons table and pulled his Vindicator out from the gun closet and set it on the table. Staring at the gun his mind continued to drift back to the journals he'd been given the day before. He had two more days before their mission and he couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried.

He'd barely spent the night in her bed over the past year but he'd gotten used to her soft body next to his. Pounding his fist into the table he sent spare parts flying and stomped over to the journal and took a chunk of paper into his hand and prepared to pull when a voice stopped him.

He didn't know who the woman speaking was but he answered. "What the hell do you want?"

"Sir, Admiral Hackett and Dr. T'Soni have asked for you to join them in the command outpost for your mission prep."

Turning around, he closed the journal and set it on the bed. When he looked up he just averted his gaze back to the spare parts on the ground and waved her away. "Tell them I'll be there in a few minutes. I have a few things to clean up."

She nodded and stepped away from his quarters while he dropped to the ground. He stumbled around for a bit on his hands and knees until gathering every bit he could. Supplies were short until they could figure out a regulated system and every bit was as valuable as a piece of gold at the moment.

When the pieces were finally gathered, he picked the journal back up and locked it in it's case with the others and headed out into the night. The sky was a little clearer than it was a few days ago, but it was still cold and from the reports from the ships the explosion had done something to the planets atmosphere. Turning up the heat inside his suit, Garrus headed out and almost immediately ran into the same woman from a few minutes prior.

"I thought I told you to report to the admiral and Liara."

She brought up her omni-tool. "I sent a text message."

He mentally kicked himself for being so foolish. The relay may have been down, but omni-tools still worked and he felt like a fool for thinking she'd actually walk away from him. He'd been feeling like he was being watched the past couple of days and he figured she was either the one who had been following him or was at least in charge of it.

"That was rather, smart." He was distracted and sealed the entrance to his bunk and turned to her. "Can I ask why you've been following me around for the past few days."

The woman scoffed and relaxed her stance. There was a knowing smirk to her face and she shrugged. "I'm impressed by you Vakarian. But, unfortunately even now my job is to be as discreet as possible and I cannot divulge any more information that.' She stuck out her hand. "Until I'm allowed to divulge my identity you can call me CT."

Taking her hand, he gave it a firm shake and was impressed by her grip. He could tell that she could handle herself but there was something about her that didn't sit right. But he had orders he had to follow at the moment as well so he could afford to give her a pass.

"Well, CT it's good to meet you, but keep an eye out. You aren't the only one with a knack for keeping themselves hidden."

Rubbing her nose with her thumb, she chuckled, "I'll take that wager any day, sir. But for now I think we better not keep Hackett waiting."

Making their way through the evening crowds, Shepard took notice of the large pulsing formations of lights. Construction crews and military operations were the only things running at the moment. Occasionally omni-tools played videos and music or the sound of people laughing over drinks and rations after a had days work could be heard, but in the dim light the ever constant reminder of Reapers on the horizon while the engineers attempted to extract what they could to help with recovery.

CT remained quiet as they walked past the soldiers coming on and off duty. They saluted while civilians kept to themselves and went about their work fixing buildings or tending to families or anything that kept their minds those who could at least function properly. Though the sounds of the suffering weren't loss on them.

As they passed by the medical quarters they could hear the sounds of soldiers and civilians suffering from injuries both mental and physical. Chronic pain, loss of limbs, internal injuries, mental anguish. Garrus had seen them all throughout the course of the past few days. He'd been sitting in the medical bay until recently, the Normandy crew was given a small section to themselves but as his injuries were less severe than the others and he was given free reign to leave.

He still made daily trips to check on his friends and the soldiers, but he only made the trips as long as necessary.

When they arrived at the command post, Garrus was surprised to see CT walk in with him, not to mention Kaidan, Wrex, Liara, and Jack standing their with Xen and a familiar looking varren. The beast immediately rushed to him and nudged his hand.

"So, they found a way to bring you along Urz?"

The beast barked loudly and sat down staring at him with expectant eyes. The turian shook his head. "Sorry boy, no pyjack meat this time."

The varren snorted but nudged him all the same before settling next to him.

"So, I take it we found out some startling information since you had to disturb me from getting a good nights sleep again?"

Xen shook her head. "Well other than some mild success in removing a few cores from our enemies I would say no." She turned to Hackett and nodded, "Now if you'll excuse me I must return to more important matters."

When she left, Garrus shook his head. "And Joker says the stick up my ass needs to be removed more often."

Wrex let out a loud laugh while Kaidan rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well they have more important issues to worry about. Humanity has their planet but everyone else," he trailed off but they all knew the answer. That didn't stop him from adding, "I'm beginning to think this might not be such a good idea."

The silence was broken only by the occasional beeping of the machinery.

"Well, either way the actual purpose of your mission is to not locate only Shepard."

They all turned to Liara and Hackett. "And what do you plan on having us do on the Citadel if not find Shepard? Round up food and supplies?"

They all chuckled at Jack's comment but Hackett nodded. "That is the primary goal." He looked to Liara who pulled up the locations of the three remaining arms of the Citadel while the others looked on in stunned silence.

"Umm…Admiral…no disrespect but how are we supposed to search for supplies? The Citadel has no power. Even if we were to discover rations and supplies, how can we be sure whatever is in there will hold up?"

Hackett turned to Kaidan while Liara chuckled. "That is why we are only going to be looking for tech, dry rations, and of course things like this." She pulled up what looked like a memory shard that Javik was known to have. "These are data caches. That have been discovered by the drones sent in by the teams. They've discovered large quantities of data that are now available for us to access if we manually hack into them."

"Tali would love this mission."  
They fell silent again as they remembered what happen to the engineer. During the fight, she'd set a bomb to detonate to cover their escape. The only problem was one of the giant krogan-turian hybrids got it stuck on one of its spikes and she was forced to detonate it too soon catching her in the explosion.

At the moment she was fighting a severe infection thanks to her leg needing amputation and she was in more pain than any of them could imagine. Liara and Kaidan owed their lives to her, but at the moment they couldn't do anything to help her except pray.

"Let's not dwell on what we can't change at the moment. But instead look for possibilities to help those suffering."

The admiral had Liara pull up some footage and pointed at the location magnifying it. "I take it you are all familiar with the area we are looking at?"

They were indeed intimately familiar with the area that Hackett was pointing at. It was Zakera Ward and despite what many merchants said, there were plenty of products on the ship for them to salvage. Including food and weapons.

Snorting Jack asked, "So, what? We're just supposed to walk out with the shit in our arms? Hell, Admiral I can barely use my biotics since the fucking relays went to shit and now you want me to help remove literally TONS of food and ammunition?"

He adjusted his hat, and looked uncomfortable for a moment, but when he looked at Jack his stare froze her in place.

"No, Instructor. I do not intend for you to lift them out yourselves. What I intend for you to do is act like a god damn adult and follow your orders to help keep your students and other people from dying due to starvation and lack of proper medical care! So I'd appreciate it if you'd hold your tongue and listen before opening that mouth of yours before I silence you myself!"

All of their blood turned to ice at the admiral's voice. He was a man known for his composure but they could tell the stress of having to coordinate so many operations was getting to him. Deciding it best to interject, Garrus spoke.

"If that's what you think is best admiral, we'll need a pilot and supplies of our own if we're to do this mission. Is there anyone we can talk to?"

He pointed to the woman, CT. "She's your requisitions officer and will be going with you to report on your progress back to me and the remaining human leaders. Garrus you're responsible for the Primarch's reports, and Liara you're their for the Asari."

"And what about my people, Admiral?"

The grizzled man turned to the krogan and nodded. "Wrex we will divide up what we can upon retrieval. There is a lot of ground to cover. Restaurants, hospitals, clinics, stores. We know that there was a large amount of change to the Presidium but that was made nearly inaccessible after the explosion. And the people we had stationed on the Crucible are looking into the area where the explosion emanated from."

"That's why I was able to figure out that the Catalyst needed to be an organic being. Something to do with the link between organics and dark energy was found in the data banks of the we're studying. It seems the Reapers knew of this and it may have been the primary focus of their harvesting us."

"So you're telling me that's why our biotics are shot to shit? Because the explosion altered our ability to use them? And that we were harvested and murdered just because of shit they created? I though they were all logical and shit where is the logic in that?"

Liara shrugged. "It seems the most likely explanation, but until we can get more information it is merely speculation at best."

Garrus snorted. "To hell with speculation I want answers."

They all looked at him and he scratched at his scars. "CT, please get us enough supplies for a three week trip into that section. I want as many video transmitters as you can get, and as many communicators as well." He looked up at Hackett, "Can I also put in a requisition for a light truck. A Grizzly or even a Mako? If we're going for supplies I'm going to need a way to transport them to a landing zone for the ship you'll be lending us."

Hackett nodded. "You're right about that Vakarian. I'll see what I can scrounge up. Though a vehicle the size you are requesting may be a bit difficult to maneuver but I think we can find a few Kodiaks to lend you. Is there anything else?"

"I'll need specs on the areas we're going into. If there's food and the like, maybe we can find a way to get emergency power running in a few of the areas. And also as many oxygen containers you can allow. I hate for us to explode thanks to a lack of atmosphere."

"Actually Garrus, the only thing still fully functional in the remaining portions of the Citadel are in fact the atmospheric controls. We'll have oxygen and some warmth but nothing else save for what we take."

They all stared at Liara. "How is that possible?"

It was Kaidan who spoke. "I thought they were all connected through one primary power source?"

"Again it is one of the mysteries we are trying to discover about this technology."

"Then let's hope those studying it can give us the answers. For now everyone pack up what gear you can. I want us ready to go in two days. Think you can handle that, CT?"

The woman snapped to attention and exited the command post while the others stared at Garrus in surprise.

"What?"

Hackett looked away from them while Jack smirked. "We thought you were more cock sure about getting your pussy back, rather than helping scour for supplies."

The vulgarity annoyed Kaidan and Liara while Wrex laughed his ass off.

Smiling, Garrus shrugged and said, "I'm doing what she passed on to us. To put the needs of others before our own."

That got the group quiet and he saluted them. "Let's make her proud." The group snapped to attention and they dispersed for the evening.

A couple of days later Garrus was sitting in the cockpit of the freighter they'd been lent going over the schematics Hackett had given him.

"We're approaching now, Garrus. Are you ready for departure?"

He gave the pilot a pat on the shoulder and headed down to the shuttle bay where Liara, Jack, Kaidan, CT, Wrex, and Urz were waiting with Cortez who would be piloting the Kodiak.

Grabbing his gear he nodded at all of them, "All right, let's get to work."


	3. Chapter 3

So onward with chapter 3. Got a little bit done on the novel so off to work on this. Are we holding up okay everyone? Liking where the story is going? I'm getting hits so I'm gonna say "Yes." enjoy Also i took some liberties with certain aspects of how Shepard became an N7 because it's never really stated so...*shrugs* I came up with something that might work.

Chapter 3

"Holy shit!"

They had entered their third building for the day. So far their searches had yielding no positive results yet. It had been three days since they'd landed and each place they found was either littered with bodies or empty. And it was unnerving to put use the term lightly. The houses that were empty had no bodies and no food in them adding more to the mystery of what was going on.

But they weren't worried. The size of the area they were in was large enough that if you followed the rules of mathematics they would end up hitting pay dirt eventually.

When they landed, they were shocked to find out that the results of the probes searches were correct. When they landed the atmospheric controls were in full effect, the temperatures were still functioning at the same levels as they were before the explosion, but other than that there were no functioning lights or anything leading them to believe it was an emergency protocol that had been initiated at the time of the explosion.

Other than that, they weren't surprised to find a large amount of bodies littering the grounds. Corpses of reaper troops, Cerberus soldiers, civilians, mercs, they were everywhere and the smell wasn't helping so they decided to keep their masks on. To no ones surprise a few of them had to stop when they found a few empty rooms. When they removed their masks and helmets a few of them emptied their stomachs in whatever receptacles they could find.

They may have been battle hardened warriors, but the conditions that they saw without the rush of adrenaline and fear of life rushing through them took their full effect.

Garrus, CT, and Wrex were the only ones who kept their composure.

Over the past few days it grew gradually easier, but still difficult and they decided to avoid buildings with the largest amounts of bodies in them. Which unfortunately included a couple of small hospitals. While they wanted to search, their health was more important and without a larger crew the job would waste too much time.

Still they marked each building with a tab for the next trip.

But for now they were sitting in a small clinic in one of the wards going through a few things when Jack discovered a large cache of crates filled with medical supplies behind a fake wall.

Upon inspection they were able to figure out the majority of the medication was geared for turian and human use, which meant the asari could also benefit from it. They even found antibiotics for the quarian fleet and a small stock hold of weapons, armor, and even a few hundred pounds of amino and dextro based foods. Tagging the crates, Garrus made a call.

"Cortez, we need you to follow the signal I've set. We've found some supplies that need immediate transport to the supply frigates."

"On my way, Garrus."

He looked over his squad and added, "Make sure you have the mechs ready to load up the supplies. I'll be leaving Kaidan and Liara to help oversee loading."

"Copy that."

"Where do you want us to meet up with you?" The major asked as he began taking inventory on his omni-tool for the reports later that night.

"We'll be heading to the next shopping district. Should only be about twenty minutes from here. Load it up as quickly as possible and forward our findings to the necessary people."

The order came from CT, but Garrus let it slide. There was no real leader of the group but they all trusted each other enough to know that when someone spoke it was what the others were thinking. Kaidan nodded while Liara eyed the woman with suspicion as was her new habit.

From the corner of his eye he saw Wrex shake his head and the Shadow Broker went back to her duties while Garrus checked his visor. Over the past few nights he'd been able to make repairs to it. The targeting system was still a little off as he found out during an early morning practice session, but he was one of the best snipers around and he had no problem shooting without it. But his tracking beacon for Shepard was still not functioning. He knew he should just uninstall it, but Wrex had been right in his suspicions a couple of days ago.

Heading back into reality he moved the squad out of the building and with Urz leading the way he heard Jack and Wrex sharing battle stories.

"So then the station is going down and I finally manage to get aboard an escape pod and as I'm floating away I'm just staring out the pod window as this massive giant explosion rocks the moon and leaves a big ass crater in it."

Wrex let out a loud laugh while CT sighed at the juvenile way they were acting. . That got the biotics attention.

"Got something to say up there?"

The older woman turned her head and sneered. "You're lucky that little incident didn't kill anyone."

The biotic snorted. "You're right, I am lucky. Truth is I'm glad I didn't hurt anyone but at the same time it was fun as all hell." There was a laugh in her voice. "And just because you're some Alliance hot shot, don't think your shit is any better smelling than mine."

They were about five minutes out from their destination and Garrus was hoping this confrontation could be held off for a while longer, but it was inevitable. The stress had been piling up and even with the finding of that small bit of supplies it didn't help with everyone worrying about how they would all survive for very long.

They came to a halt and before Garrus could stop, CT, the woman had her fist cocked back and into Jack's face while Wrex just casually stepped to the side and fiddled with his shotgun. Garrus let out a loud groan and prepared to stop them.  
"Don't do it, Garrus."

Turning to the krogan, the sniper spat. "They're going to kill each other."

"No they won't." The former mercenary set his shotgun on his back holster and watched as Jack threw the woman over her shoulder. Even without her biotics Jack was still a force to be reckoned with.

"How can you be so sure?" Asked Garrus, holding himself back from using a concussive round on the two women.

Wrex chuckled as CT planted her elbow into Jack's stomach before the biotic planted a fist into the top of the older woman's skull.

"If they were trying to kill each other Jack would have used her biotics and CT would be using a gun or her knife to end this as quickly as possible."

Garrus's eyes followed the women for a moment and he saw what Wrex meant. Though they weren't as powerful as they had been, Jack's powers were still well beyond the scope of most humans and CT he had come to find out was skilled with a blade and a gun. But they were just using their fists and he remembered his days with a certain female soldier when he was in the turian military.

It was a similar situation, though Garrus knew it wouldn't end with the two of them creeping off together later and watched silently until CT finally won with a knee to Jack's stomach. The biotic crumpled to the ground, followed shortly by the soldier and Garrus and went to the two of them. He was certain they'd be bruised tomorrow, Jack had a cut lip and CT a bloody nose, but save for a few scratches they were none the worse for wear.

"Are you two finished acting like children?"

CT nodded and plugged her nose with a bit of tissue from her hip pouch before handing a bit to Jack who thanked her.

"Hell of a right cross you got there, CT."

The older woman chuckled and gave Jack a pat on the back. "You aren't too bad yourself. I'd hate to see what state I'd be in if you'd used your biotics"

Jack shook her head and stood up just as Kaidan and Liara came up with happy looks on their faces. "Face it lady, your head wouldn't even exist had I used my powers."

The biotic extended her hand and pulled the woman up with a small grunt as Garrus shook his head.

"Everything go all right?"

The major nodded. "No problems at all and we kept a couple of extra medi-gels just in case." He looked over at Jack and CT who were still smiling stupidly about their fight. "And from what I can see we were right to suspect that."  
Jack shrugged and spat a bit of blood out on the ground. "Come on, Major. You've never gotten into a fist fight just because you were pissed off?"

"Not since I was ten, Jack." He looked them over and turned to Garrus. "Have you even gone into the building?"

Garrus shook his head and grinned. "We were hoping you'd show up with the small pool filled with Jell-O."

"What's Jell-O?"

Garrus and Kaidan coughed nervously at Liara's question and Jack took her by the shoulder and began whispering in her ear. A few moments later, Liara was in Garrus and Kaidan's faces, her own face a much deeper shade of blue than normal.

"How is it that you two know of such things."

Kaidan shrugged and said, "Well it's not that uncommon of an event on human planets. I've never been myself, but I have a few friends that are into those sort of activities."

"And Garrus, what about you?"

The turian scratched his scars and laughed. "Leela may have taken me to a few when we were on shore leave in a few of the seedier parts of the Citadel." Liara's hand came up and with a loud pop he felt a small stab of pain.

"I bet you learned about it during one of your stupid research escapades and forced her into it."

Garrus could hear the jealousy in her voice but straightened up and flexed his jaw a bit before saying. "Actually it was not my idea. She was the one who suggested it when she found out it was going on where Chora's Den used to be. All I did was agree with it and I wasn't having nearly as much fun as she was." Liara could see in his face that he was hinting at Shepard joining in on the festivities by more than just cheering.

"Shocking that with you being the Shadow Broker and an asari you still don't know about these things."

Liara shot a look at Wrex who just continued to grin. "Why didn't she tell me about it?"

Kaidan made a grimace and wandered off with CT while Jack grabbed Wrex and began heading into the collapsed building.

When they were alone, Liara let a few tears fall and Garrus held her. It was a sad sight to see. Though they were a long-lived race, Liara was more than a kid out of her teens and Shepard had been her first real love. He hated what he had done, but he hadn't planned on doing that to Liara, if anything she was a sister to him and like the others he'd die to protect them and hoped that she and Shepard would get back together so he could get over his own attraction. But instead he ended up finding out that she was just as interested. He'd been out shopping for weapons parts while she and Shepard had met on Illium. And he'd been left behind on the Hagalaz mission but even then he'd steered clear of her when she was on the shipand he was aware of their conversations, but now he had a chance to at least apologize.

"I'm sorry, Liara."

She slammed a fist against his armor. "I know you are, Garrus. But it doesn't change the fact that she is gone."

He stroked her crests and nodded. "Maybe, maybe not. But," he pushed her back and lifted her chin with a finger. "It won't do any honor to her memory to cry about it right now."

She wiped the tears and nodded. "I'm sorry, Garrus. I said some hurtful things to her about the two of you and I just wanted…."

He laughed, "Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure I would have done the same thing if I was in your shoes."

She straightened up and wiped the remaining tears, though it didn't do much to help the condition of her eyes. And with a nod they headed into the building where they found Kaidan and CT scrounging through bathrooms on the lower floors. They'd been lucky to find a few medi-gel packs in dispensers along with other sanitary items.

"Where's Wrex and Jack?"

CT pointed up. "With Urz. The damn beast smelt something upstairs and they followed after him." A second later they heard the stumbling of steps and Jack screaming loudly as she slid into the room on her knees holding up two large bottles. "We are going to party tonight!"

Taking one of the bottles Garrus saw that it was a form of high end alcohol and was surprised that it was both dextro and amino friendly. The other bottle, Kaidan took and smiled. Shaking it at CT. "It's looking like things may be going our way."

The officer took the bottle from the Spectre and read it carefully. "Find a few jugs of water and I'm more than willing to suffer through the hangover."

At that moment, Wrex and Urz appeared with bundles of medi-gel and more food stuffs. His lip curled as he growled at Jack.

She shrugged and gave a nervous chuckle causing the split on her lip to bleed a bit. "Sorry."

The krogan turned with a growl and thundered back upstairs with Garrus and CT following quickly behind him while Kaidan, Liara, and Jack went about taking inventory again.

Upstairs Garrus and CT let out gasps at the sight. It was a larger cache of supplies than the last one and he was certain they would need Steve to make at least three trips for all of it. Luckily there were lifts they could use to transport the cargo down into the streets for pick up. As they went through the boxes. They found more food and medical supplies as well as clothing but no weapons or spare parts for ships or computer systems. But still he signaled the human female to send out the message while he and Wrex went about fixing the lifts.

A few hours he was bidding Cortez and another shuttle pilot a good trip while they went onto the next location. This trip was difficult as the deformed bodies of whatever happened on the Citadel made an appearance once more. By the time they stopped, they hadn't found anything for the evening save for a hidden supply of water that would have kept the crew of a dreadnaught saturated for a few months.

By the time Steve and his pilot friend showed up again, they had set up camp for the night and when they were gone, Jack opened up the two bottles and he shared a toast with them for a finally productive day.

Liara didn't join in on the festivities. She set to work coordinating what forces she had left and it seemed to brighten her mood when she finally got a message from Feron that he was safe.

As he sipped at his glass he began to read from the book once more.

_I haven't been able to sleep in days. What happened on, Akuze, my team, my squad mates, we were slaughtered. All of us save for me by a damn thresher maw. It was massive and it's spit. I watched them burn in front of me. Screaming in agony as me and the others ran. I tried to save them. I tried to distract it with some of my biotics by sending down rocks on top of its head but it wouldn't give up the chase._

_We ran forever, my fellow marines dying one by one. Some of them sucked into the ground and others, God…the others were eaten or melted._

_I can't sleep, the dreams still haunt me and all I can see is Vanessa laying in front of me. Her breaths ragged as I tried to clean her wounds. Her apologizing to me for what she had done a couple months ago. I told her not to worry about it but she shook her head saying that there was nothing I could do before thanking me and letting go as I did nothing but cry._

_I was given ten marines to keep safe and none of them came back. My own injuries pale in comparison for what they gave up._

_The analysts are calling it a freak accident. Something that we couldn't stop. I'm the only survivor to come off that world with the last person I thought I'd ever see rotting in front of me._

_I was lucky that my beacon worked and when I was picked up the first thing they told me was that I'd done a good job._

_Again I cried. I had failed in my mission. I was a member of the N7 training program and I could only save myself._

_After my surgeries they sent in the shrinks who wanted to talk about my past and the things that happened on Akuze. I told them to drop it. It had nothing to do with what I was going through now but they said that I should be thankful for what I had gone through as a child. I lost control and sent them flying with a biotic push telling them not to make light of the dead._

_I was left alone after that save for the nurses. None of them said anything as they changed my bandages and checked my I.V. Finally Mom and Dad showed up and I felt a little better. Dad's been retired for a couple years now but Mom was an X.O. on a dreadnaught now. She'd been given special leave to come help me._

_When I told her I didn't want her to be there she just smacked me upside the head and said, "You best watch your tone with me young lady. I'm not so old that I won't bend you over my knee."_

_At that point we heard a cough and Mom and Dad immediately straightened up and saluted. I couldn't see what they were looking at but when I finally saw I tried to straighten up and salute but my shattered arm and ribs wouldn't let me._

_He waved his hand away and asked to speak with me in private. My parents gave concerned looks but nodded and when they were gone, Admiral Steven Hackett sat down in front of me._

_I asked him what to what I owed the honor and he shook his head and apologized for sending us in with so little intel. It took me by surprise having one of the most decorated soldiers in the Alliance apologize to me, but I kept quiet about it._

_He went on about how they should have realized what was happening and had given us better equipment or warning and that because of them fifty good people were dead. He also apologized to me for the treatment I received during my training._

_When I asked what he meant his face dropped and he said that he was well aware of my treatments and reassignment surgery before basic training. I clenched up but he shook his head saying it didn't matter. He said that what the Alliance needed was people like me and from out of his pocket he pulled a small package and spoke._

_"What is inside this is not a consolation, nor is it out of pity, or disrespect to the lives lost on that mission nor as a way to make up for the suffering you've endured. I'm presenting this to you because you have earned it. You have served the Alliance honorably and with integrity. You have survived missions, lead people into battle and come out alive. You have shown the willingness to survive, have saved lives when you could, and have shown the honor and integrity that the Alliance has tried to stand for. And I ask that when you are cleared to join us, that you stand with those receiving this honor and bring those who have bled with you the honor and vengeance they deserve."_

_I took the parcel and opened it and inside was an N7 badge and the insignia for a second-class warrant officer. All I could say was that I'd think about it and he nodded._

_Before he left he turned to me and gave me a salute. "You've done us proud, Shepard. And I hope that you will make the right decision."_

_That was two days ago and I still haven't gotten back to him. My body ribs are feeling better but my arm will need more time to heal along with my body from the dehydration. But in a week they will have the N7 induction ceremony. I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Thinking about those who died shooting for this dream._

_Over time I had earned the respect of the other candidates. They knew I could do the job, just like them. And while none of us were friends, we were comrades and that was more than enough. After five years I'm finally starting to feel like I belong and I know that if I don't accept this I will do myself and them a great dishonor._

_Still won't help me sleep any better. _

_December 12th, 2177_

He shut the book and drank from his glass of alcohol before taking a sip of water. Jack and Wrex were singing loudly at the top of their lungs while CT was curled up on the ground with the liquor bottle, a small bit of drool seeping from her mouth.

Liara had gone to sleep as well away curled up in a blanket next to the heating lamp.

He thought he'd turn in to when he noticed Kaidan staring out into the Wards.

Getting up, he walked to the window and stared out with him and noticed the dark mounds of bodies beneath him.

"It's never going to be the same is it?"

Kaidan shook his head at the question. "I suppose not. It's kind of funny," he added with a small chuckle. "So many races used this place as place to bring peace and order to the galaxy and in three short years we expose it for what it was, thus destroying the entire illusion that has been built up for millennia."

Garrus chuckled and handed Kaidan the rest of his drink. The human drowned it and coughed before speaking. "But, we're alive. And thanks to her, we have a chance to finally control our own destiny's."

The turian nodded and scratched his chin, "That's true Kaidan. But right now, we are only at the beginning of our destiny."

The major laughed and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "That may be. But right now, I think enjoying a brew, a shot, and a steak sandwich with my sister is a pretty good start to this destiny."

Garrus's mandibles quivered momentarily at this and he asked, "You have a sister?"

The biotic nodded and smirked. "Yeah I do. You might know her. About five-foot-eight, hundred-and-thirty-five pounds. Biotic, naturally red eyes, and hair that looks purple under the right light. Has a turian boyfriend with a mangled face." His grin broadened. "I think you know someone like that, right?"

Garrus laughed and slapped the biotic on the back. "I may know someone like that. But if her brother tries anything I may just have to put a foot in his ass."

Kaidan laughed as well. "Just make sure you pay for my sandwich and medical bills."

"No, promises Alenko."


	4. Chapter 4

So now to chapter 4! That's itthat's all I gotsorry. Though I kind of want to see some of these scenes come to life. Oh well I'm not trolling for art. *shrugs* though it would be interesting to see what people actually do compared to how it plays out in my head. I think every writer wants that.

Chapter 4

"What the hell did you do?"

Garrus was sailing over a small wall while Jack and Kaidan laid down supporting fire. They were in their second week of scouting the ruins and out of no where gunfire fell on them like a typhoon. Loading ammunition into his Valiant, he turned around and let a concussive round fly. The round exploded taking out two of their attackers before falling back behind the covering.

"Me? All I did was touch a cabinet!"

Wrex stood up with his shotgun and let out a familiar blast, but a round caught him in the shoulder and sent his shot wide. He cursed and emptied the chamber and attempted to throw a biotic blast but his efforts proved pointless.

Jack snorted in laughter as she pointed to Liara and then to the stairs. Kaidan saw this and nodded to Garrus who looked at the women. Jack kept her hand hidden and made a familiar set of hand movements and he gave her a thumbs up.

"We'll cover you," he signed back.

Jack then took Liara and Urz up the stairs on the other side of the room while a grenade sailed into the room. Grabbing CT, who was in the middle of lining up a shot with her own sniper rifle, Garrus threw them behind a counter. While Kaidan and Wrex dove to opposite ends of the room leaving them both exposed.

Kaidan did a somersault while Wrex kind of fell like a beached whale making it difficult to recover as the major responded with a flash bang. His aim was a little off, but it caught their attention as the flash bang erupted in a burst of light and smoke.

Three of the enemies grabbed their ears while another shouted at them. He couldn't place it but he was certain he knew the person speaking but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"GARRUS WILL YOU PAY ATTENTION!"

The sound of CT shouting at him shook him from his thoughts just in time for him to move out of the way of a bullet.

"Thanks!" She responded with a wave of her hand and sent a round sailing out of the window hitting one of their attackers. He let out a scream while the leader cursed at him for being so stupid before letting out a curse of her own.

Urz could be heard snarling and several of the people sent out shots but their screams indicated that the beast had been victorious. They heard another gunshot go off followed by a bunch of swearing from Jack and the sounds of a fists meeting flesh. Getting out from behind their cover, Garrus led the squad up the stairs and found a collapsed pedway that Jack and Liara had used as a makeshift bridge.

They wasted no time in making their way across. It took both Kaidan and Garrus to pull Jack away from her victim and they saw the reason why. Liara had taken a bullet in the shoulder and she was bleeding heavily. Signaling for CT, Garrus removed Jack and held her against the wall while the woman took care of Liara.

"It's okay!" Shouted the woman as she cut open Liara's outfit and poured disinfectant on the wound. "It's a clean shot! Straight through and no major arteries hit." The woman began whispering to Liara who was nodded and shaking.

Garrus's grip relaxed slightly and he felt Jack try to fight but he slammed her against the wall again.

"She's going to be fine, Jack. But you won't be if you fight me again. So choose your next move carefully."

The words came out even more threatening than he planned and he saw a momentary glimpse of worry in the former criminals eyes flash before nodding.

"Kaidan, come and remove her guns before I let her go.'

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

Garrus bared his teeth at her and the biotic opened her hands in submission. "Okay, okay. You win, just don't go all nature documentary on me." She still had her self satisfying grin on her face and even teased Kaidan with some mock moans as he patted her down for extra weapons. "Lucky for you I'm a cheap date."

Kaidan gave a nervous chuckle and stood up giving Garrus the signal that she was clean.  
When he let her wrists go, Jack winced and rubbed her wrists as Garrus looked over her latest victim.

Her knuckles were bleeding and she gave one of them a quick suck before saying. "Crazy fucker tried to set off another grenade. I had to take him down."

The man's face was no where near as bad as the damage Jack was known for inflicting, but still he could see that the man had a broken nose and was in need of medical attention. Shaking his head he pointed to the collapsed pedway.

"Go and get one of the first aid kits. Kaidan put in a call to Cortez. Tell him we need an emergency evac."

"Well that's awfully nice of you, Archangel."

At that moment a spark in his brain lit and he stared at the direction of the door to see Aria standing there. Her pistol was in its holster and she had a rare smirk on her face as Jack came back with the medical supplies.

"Fancy meeting, you here Aria. Along with," he noticed the suits of the men to be a mix of Blue Suns and the women were most likely Eclipse mercs left behind during the attack. "Glad to see another friendly face around here."

She scoffed. "Me? Friendly? You think just because the galaxy's gone to shit I'm going to make nice with you people?"

Garrus shook his head. "I don't expect you to, but I know you. And I'm betting you haven't been able to find a way off of this station. Have you?"

Aria tried to keep her composure but her anger eventually exploded and she fired off an entire thermal clip into the building across the way making Wrex chuckle.

Loading in a new clip, the asari pointed it at the krogan. "Laugh again, and I'll remove your quads one at a time."

Wrex pulled out his shotgun and actually fired off a round barely missing the former gang leader. "You forget who you're dealing with, T'Loak. You'd do better to shoot me first and then threaten me. "

The asari snorted and stuck her pistol back into it's holster and leaned back taking a look at her people. "You're right about that, Wrex. But I'm not stupid." She turned to Garrus. "What the hell are you doing here anyway? I thought you were all on Earth trying to be heroes."

Garrus shrugged, his shoulder twitching slightly from his injury. "War is over, Reapers are dead and we have a large amount of people that need any left over supplies we can find." He could see the humor in the asari's eyes and he quickly added. "I'm sure the remnants of the Council and Alliance would gladly compensate you for any information that you may have stored in that pretty head of yours."

The asari tapped her chin in mock thought. Garrus knew her too well to know that she wouldn't refuse the deal but she loved to play her games when she knew the pieces were set to her advantage.

After a few moments she looked up and nodded. "Very well, but I want whoever is in charge on the line by the time your pilot shows up."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're going to cut her a deal just like that?"

Jack was glaring at the asari who returned the glare with a smile of her own. "You forgot the golden rule, Missy."

Jack pushed back Garrus to try and attack the asari but was sent flying back by a biotic wave which caught the attention of the others. Immediately those that weren't tending the wounded had their gun aimed at the asari who just laughed.

"I'm an asari and am almost as powerful as a matriarch. Unlike the rest of you I don't need an amp to blast you all into liquid shit."

Garrus hesitated for a moment before ordering his comrades to lower their weapons. Wrex growled loudly while Jack cursed in the back ground.

"Kaidan, how are we doing on getting Steve here?"

The major raised a hand and said, "All right, Steve. We'll let you know if anything else happens. And make sure there's a med team available. We have injuries on our side as well." When he finished, Kaidan dusted off his hands. "He'll be by in an hour with a second shuttle. He's in the middle of a drop off .

Aria looked down at her men and scoffed. "Can I please get my phone call or am I going to have to get my lawyer?"

About half an hour later, Liara was resting comfortably against the wall. Jack and Kaidan were taking care of her while Garrus and the others proceeded over the negotiations.

"And you're certain that everything is in working condition?"

It was Sparatus and Esheel that joined them. And it was Esheel, the new salarian councilor, who seemed the most concerned about Aria's find. Though the Councilors were more figure heads now than anything, their decisions still held weight in the upcoming battles and the fact that Sparatus had even survived was a miracle. Tevos was aboard a repurposed dreadnaught receiving medical attention, and the last they heard it didn't look good while Valern had died in the battle.

"Of course I'm certain. I'm the one who procured the equipment while you all were fucking around."

Garrus could see her anger rising in the form of dark energy emanating from her hands. It was a bit frightening to see her have so much power while Jack and the others without their biotics. From what he heard it wasn't just the biotics who were having problems as many people with cybernetics, including the quarians were having issues since the relays were destroyed.

Though from what he could gather from aria's conversation with the Council and Hackett the quarians were recovering quickly though the work on the research on the relays had progressed mere inches when everyone was expecting yards.

"We seem to be getting off topic. Are you willing to grant Aria and the remainder of her forces the proper, 'gratitude' for giving us these supplies?"

Three of the most powerful people in the system looked at each other in silent conference for a moment, then Sparatus nodded. "Very well, we shall grant you your requests, upon our validating what you say. Garrus, you and your squad shall accompany her save for Wrex and Liara."

Wrex snarled, "The first action I've had in weeks and I'm getting pulled out of the thick of things."

"That's precisely why we're pulling you. The rest of your fleet is having the same, 'issues' as you are. And we're unsure of how to proceed."

Wrex scratched his plates and spat on the ground. "Fine, I'll come back. Garrus? You think you can keep these women in check or am I going to have to lend you my quad?"

Garrus's mandibles flared in a grin. "I took those back on Virmire when you shit yourself standing up to Shepard."

"If we can bet back to the task at hand, gentlemen." It was Hackett that interrupted him. "Wrex, you and the wounded will be brought back on the shuttle. Aria, you're going to stay with Garrus and the others. CT? Can you handle examining the equipment?"

The soldier nodded. "It shouldn't be a problem, Admiral. But if you could send another tech along it'd be a big help. Especially with the tech she's claiming to have found."

"If it gets me off this pile of shit station I'll do whatever you want." The tapping of her foot said otherwise, but with the majority of her forces stationed elsewhere she had little choice but to comply.

"Glad you see things our way"

"I don't see things your way, Councilor." Her voice was venom as she spoke. "I'm doing this because I have no choice. And if I had another way to get out of here you'd be damn sure I'd be on my way back to Omega. And just so you know" she puffed herself up and approached the holograms. "You even think of double crossing."

"I can assure you Aria that we will honor our end of the bargain upon us receiving the supplies."

She deflated slightly, and nodded, "So long as you remember your place."

Only Hackett showed no fear at her threats and while the Councilors shut down their communications he remained and said to CT and Garrus, "Cortez was on the line during this conversation and is meeting up with a couple of other shuttles. And Aria," the asari barely gave him a look as he said, "your threats are as empty as the Citadel and don't think I'm going to allow you to continue making them when you're in just as much trouble as us. Hackett out."

He shut off the communications channel before she could respond but it didn't stop her from kicking the wall sending a chunk of it flying with her biotics.

As they waited, Jack was pacing back and forth, keeping an eye on the Aria and her men while Kaidan kept an eye on Liara. Her wound was stabilized, and she looked to be able to move around, but the loss of blood was getting to her.

"I'm surprised she was unable to pull up a barrier. I forget how weak the Maiden stage was."

Liara sat up and turned her attention to the former leader of Omega. "So, my powers are going to return?"

Aria shrugged. "I don't know. You're in the Maiden stage of life. It's possible you might upon entering the Matron or Matriarch stages. Consult a fucking professional instead of me."

"And what about us?" Asked Kaidan who was handing Liara her fourth bottle of water while CT did the same for their other victim. Jack and Wrex were near the more energetic followers of the older asari, anger and suspicion in their eyes.

Pulling out a thin cigar from her breast pocket and lit it. Blowing the smoke from her nose she scoffed. "The fuck if I know. Every single biotic that I know of who is not an asari has lost full use of their powers and the people in my employment that use cybernetics have found their implants and limbs a little, worse for wear."

Garrus and the others thought they heard actual concern in her voice, but it was short lived as Cortez and a few more shuttles arrived to take the injured, Wrex, and the rest of Aria's men as collateral. They looked glad to be rid of her but she showed no signs of caring.

When they were gone, Aria stamped out her cigar and dusted off her pants. "Let's get this shit over with."

That night they were lucky to find a collapsed gym with a functioning generator and for the first time in a while they didn't have to use portable power sources and they discovered a supply of nutritional snacks and juices. While it wasn't a gourmet feast, it did the job of breaking the monotony of their M.R.E's. After their food though, Jack made a discovery that put everything on hold. They found the gym's showers and found them functioning with clean water. The greatest thing was that the water was actually hot.

After the women had disappeared he, Kaidan, and Moris, their engineer, entered the men's room and remained quiet while the women laughed and talked. The hot water felt good beneath his plates, and after so long of dealing with filthy clothes and bathing from water bottles, a hot shower was just what he needed. He didn't even bother to clean himself, instead he just let the stream beat against him. He heard the muffled sound of Kaidan's voice as he walked out of the showers with the other human. When he was gone, he mumbled something as he rested his head against the wall.

Lifting his head he let it bang down gently against the wall and repeated the motion again, and again. The movement becoming heavier and faster as he repeated the words, "Damn it." And with each blow, the words growing louder and the bangs louder.

Finally after several beatings he heard the voices of Kaidan running in with Urz and Jack and he collapsed to the ground punching the puddles of water beneath his form. He tasted salt in his mouth and tried to hide the tears but his words had become a muddled mess of choked sobs and he could see his blood dripping into the water. He felt the water shut off and his body grew cold but he didn't care.

His mind was racing back the moments before the final push. He'd been left behind again, but he knew why. She wanted to spare him the pain. The pain of seeing her leave him. It was an unspoken acknowledgement between her and all the crew. The fatalistic charge into battle. Liara had been with her, and so had Kaidan. Garrus had been with Edi scouting out another area and had been under heavy fire until a burst of red energy put a halt on everything.

When he was finally able to gather his thoughts, he looked over the wall to see the reaper troops they'd been fighting dead. When he'd turned to congratulate Edi on their victory, he saw the body of the A.I. collapsed and her head resting gently against the wall as if asleep. He'd been forced to carry her back, but to the command outpost and when he got there, he saw Hackett standing with the other leaders, their heads bowed as he approached.

Setting Edi gently on a medical gurney he asked what the problem was. His only answer was Hackett handing him a set of N7 dog tags. He couldn't bring himself to say anything or even cry.

Now he was sitting on the floor of a shower, cold, naked, and dry heaving as he clutched the tags dangling from his neck, swearing loudly as Kaidan tried to coax him through it.

When he regained his ability to speak, Garrus thanked his friend and asked to be alone for a few moments.

"I'll be outside the door if you need me. Jack, can you bring me some of his clothes?"

The biotic simply said, "Okay," and left them alone. Standing up, Kaidan looked down at his friend.

"You sure you're okay?"

Garrus nodded and reached up to the faucet. "Yeah, I just need a few moments to myself."

Kaidan said nothing else and left. When he heard the human thank the corporal, he stood up and turned the water back on to warm himself up. He looked at the wall and noticed some of his blood on it and placed one hand on the smear of blood and the other on the dog tags and whispered.

"I'm sorry I did that." He heard the metal clink against his plates and laughed. "Yeah, well next time you better stop me, because I won't be able to."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 folks. I'm doing this mostly to get over a family thing. My grandmother died on April 29th and the funeral was this weekend May 11th so I'm doing this as a way to cope with my grief, though I'm watching lots of stand up. But you know I'm doing okay guys. Sorry to be a downer but here's something for ya.

Chapter 5

"Garrus?"

He looked over his shoulder as she stirred in the bed, they had saved her from the Bahak system almost a week ago and they were on the way to meet up with Admiral Anderson. He knew why, and she had been avoiding him preferring the silence of her quarters. It was only the night before she'd invited him up.

In the past month they had done the impossible again. No one had died in the fight against the Collectors. The people they'd recruited were still on the ship, they'd even beaten the Shadow Broker on top of the Collectors earning an ally with the resources to rival The Illusive Man.

She didn't show the signs of her stress, but he knew what was going on. She had a certain code of conduct she always followed as was her job as a symbol of the Alliance but now…after everything she was showing the signs. When he'd entered her quarters he saw large piles of dishes scattered amongst other bits of trash. Her clothes were tossed everywhere, liquor bottles were strewn about and even Boo, her hamster, was wandering free. It amazed the turian that he hadn't escaped the room and been killed in the vents.

After making his way through the stench and garbage he found her curled up on the ground next to the nightstand where her clock was staring up at the ceiling. Her hair was out of its usual pony tail and was a tangled mess. Her clothes were stained and he could see holes in them where she'd ripped off the Cerberus patches and hadn't even bothered to fix them. When she saw him she gave him a sad smile and whispered.

"Hold me?"

He was more than happy to oblige.

And now the morning after as he was about to leave, he was once again climbing into the mess of a bed and pulling her close. She was so soft against him despite her hard muscles and he found it much more enjoyable than the hard bodies of the females of his species though he did have to be extra careful not to scratch her. And despite the scent of liquor clinging to her body she smelt better as well. He gently raked his fingers through her hair as she he listened to her breath. At that moment he realized his true feelings for her, but he couldn't tell her. They knew what was about to happen and it would only make it all the more difficult. And so he remained quiet listening to her gentle breaths.

Pulling her closer to him he rested his chin on her head and she pushed up in an affectionate manner. It was the closest thing to a kiss he could describe to her amongst turians due to the feelings and rush of hormones it brought on. He felt his throat vibrate and heard her laugh.

"Find something to laugh at?"

She kissed his scars and nodded. "Though if I told you, you wouldn't understand." She rested the back of her head against his shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest. The Cerberus uniform twisted as she moved to glare up at the ceiling. "This isn't going to end well. You know that, right?"

His mandibles quivered slightly. "Do you mean the situation with Anderson? Or…."

She shifted uncomfortably and he could feel her tighten. "Both."

He felt his hand grip tighten on her but she didn't touch it. Instead she sat up and ran her hand over her face and whispered, "I'm sorry." He could hear tears in her voice and reached out for her when she stopped him with her barrier.

"Leela, if you need anything from me."

She nodded and whispered. "I know, Garrus. But thank you for everything." She looked back and smiled at him, here eyes red from the tears. "Just do me one favor."

He gave her a fond look. "Just give tell me what you need, Commander."

She leaned in and kissed him. It was slow and though he couldn't return it in the manner she was accustomed to, he knew what she was telling him. When she broke away from him he nodded and pressed his forehead against hers. Their eyes closed for a moment and a gentle creak of the springs he got off the bed. When he reached the door, he took a moment to look back at her and wished he hadn't. Her hands were shaking as they clasped together before her forehead came to rest on them her mouth moving silently as she stared at the floor. And despite wanting to wait with her until Anderson arrived, he left without a single word.

* * *

"Garrus? Garrus? Wake up!"

He mumbled something under his breath and blinked his eyes slowly before rubbing the sleep from them. Looking around he was confused about where he was and when he lifted his head it pounded in pain and he felt a wave of nausea sweep over him.

"What the hell did I do?"

Kaidan appeared over him with a reproachful look on his face and a gallon of water in one hand and a pill bottle in another. "You ended up having one of your moods last night."

With a bit of help, he sat up and felt his stomach lurch and turned to the side of the bed praising the spirits for the magical bucket that was before him before relieving himself orally of his dinner from the night before. Kaidan jumped back a bit and laughed quietly to himself before handing him the items.

Taking a few of the pills he placed them in his mouth and swallowed them before chugging the water. Some of it dribbled down the side of his mouth but it felt like nirvana. When he lowered the bottle he wiped his mouth and asked, "Any word on the next transport?"

Kaidan pulled up a chair and looked out the door. There were several people wandering the hallways of the apartment building they were hiding out in with the people Aria was working with. They'd been there for nearly a month thanks to what the building offered them.

When they'd first arrived they had expected to find mostly mercs, but instead found C-Sec officials, civilians of all creeds, and even a few military personnel. It was strange to see them all together working with Aria, but times were desperate and though Aria was a cold, ruthless bitch, even she admitted to being unable to turn these people away.

Arriving with Aria had granted them immediate access and though she was in charge, many people banded together for protection from other groups as a precaution which Garrus put a stop to right after they'd confirmed that Aria's story was true and the shock at seeing what Aria had stockpiled was more than enough for her to earn her passage out of the apartment building.

As she'd left very few came by to give her their thanks and she responded in kind, but the words were hollow and from what Garrus could see she was glad to be rid of them. But once she left, it was up to Garrus and the others to take over and so they did. Allowing anyone to leave to go when the shuttles came with and left with supplies but many chose to stay. Most of them were people with combat experience who had nowhere else to go so Garrus and the others with him had been given the task of using the apartment building as a base of operations. It was large enough to hold several hundred people and each of the fleets had sent soldiers, engineers, medics and other people to turn the apartment into a base of operations.

And though it was rewarding work finding the supplies, it gave Garrus too much time to think, and when he thought he drank, and when he drank as of late bad things tended to happen.

After swallowing another large amount of water he asked again, "Any word on that transport?"

Kaidan shook his head as he stared out the door of Garrus's room. "Nothing yet. We aren't the only ones having things for pick up and with the salvage operations finally yielding results everyone is starting to argue over where supplies should go and Hackett and the others are having trouble sorting it out." He took a bite of a granola bar and spat it out with a disgusted look on his face. "From what CT's contact said it'll be another four days before we get another transport."

Garrus took another sip of water and gently set his feet over the side of the bed and growled. "So, the infighting's already started?"

Kaidan nodded and rubbed his head, pain washing over his face. Garrus didn't know if it was a migraine or a tension headache but it didn't matter. He was beginning to feel one rise up above the hangover.

"Yeah, well most people are ready to attempt making their way back to their colonies or home planets to see about rebuilding. And they all want supplies."

Feeling a bit of bile enter his throat again, Garrus spat it into the bucket and rinsed his mouth again.

"You think they'll call us out to help deal with the fighting or leave us here?"

The major shrugged. "Most likely they'll keep us here while they sort it out. It's more or less the leaders of the fleets getting antsy and if they get out of control things could get very bad, very quickly."  
Garrus sighed and rolled his neck. He felt it pop and sighed. "Two months after a war that could have ended all life and we're back to fighting amongst ourselves? Sometimes I wonder if the Reapers were really doing us a favor."

Kaidan scoffed at this. "I refuse to believe that. We've earned our right to live. And I'm not going to waste it feeling sorry for myself over things I can't control."

Garrus stared at the floor but he could feel Kaidan's eyes on him. He knew that Kaidan was biting his tongue and Garrus knew why. Ever since they'd set up base, Kaidan had taken over where Garrus had started. The turian was once again showing how much of a failure he was despite his increase in rank. He was late to meetings, rarely left on missions, and was even going so far as to not even bother getting behind cover when they entered into fire fights and on occasion forgetting to switch his clips to use rubber rounds.

Standing up, he wobbled a bit before regaining his composure and looked at the biotic. "If you're going to say something to me, Kaidan than spit it out or just leave me alone."

Kaidan took a few deep breaths and coughed. "Last night you were on the seventh floor, alone, where that broken ledge was."

He didn't even need to ask Kaidan why he was up there. It was simple enough to figure out and he instead he asked, "Did I at least come quietly?"

The human shook his head, "CT had to tranq you."

Nodding, Garrus drank some more water before sighing. "Thanks for getting me."

"No more alcohol, Garrus."

The mandibles twitched nervously but Kaidan stood his ground. "Everyone knows it and we'll be checking on you." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small book similar to the one in his pack and handed it to his friend. When Garrus took it with a huff he asked, "How can you even read what's on the pages?"

He tapped his visor with a smirk. "This translates most of the known languages to turian script. Plus my father was a high ranking official so I had to learn at least English as a child. Though don't ask me to speak it or else we'll all be sitting here for the next few days while waiting for our underwear to get cleaned."

Kaidan curled his nose at this response and shook his head. "I'll take your word for it, but do me a favor and read these. You seem to be in a much better mental state if you can read bits of those daily."

Looking down at the book and gave a dry laugh. "I wouldn't say I'm better."

He felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder and looked Kaidan in the eye. "Maybe not, but at least when you were reading these you weren't contemplating on discovering what a seven story fall will do to your body."

Having no argument, Garrus gripped the journal tightly. "You haven't read these have you?"  
He shook his head. "They aren't mine and you knew her better than most of us, despite her open door policy."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

At that moment a young turian soldier appeared in the door way panting heavily. He stopped momentarily and saluted them. "Major Alenko. Vakarian, sir. We have a bit of a situation that requires your attention."

"Usually that's what situations require, soldier. What's the problem?"

The turian gave Garrus a confused look before shaking his head. "I wasn't given the specifics, sir. But I was told by Dr. T'soni and CT that your presence was required immediately in the basement."

That caught both their attention and with a quick glance at each other they headed down to the basement.

It was cluttered as usual. The basement had been set up as a research lab for any tech they found that could be used to figure out the inner workings of the section of the Citadel they were on. While they hadn't made as much progress as Xen and her teams were having with the drive cores, though the most they'd been able to do was get them started. And on top of that the researchers Garrus had working with them had been able to discover useful information about the fact that each arm of the Citadel had it's own power supply completely independent from the Catalyst keeping atmospheric and gravitational functionality in working condition. Meaning that resettlement would be possible to help ease the tensions of the fleets if enough supplies could be located.

Still that wasn't what bothered Garrus and Kaidan. It was the fact that Liara had called them to the basement. She'd been brought back only the week prior. Her arm healed sufficiently and her eagerness to discover the truths about the Citadel and the galaxy were as strong as ever. She spent very few nights in her room, preferring the cot next to her work station and she only ever asked for someone when she found something interesting.

Reaching the basement they found a large group of people gathered in a corner muttering quietly. Moving through the crowd of engineers, Garrus and Kaidan came to a stop at Liara's desk. Several screens were up on display. Some with research notes and translated documents that she was sending off to the Crucible and other squads of engineers.

Their concern though on the screen that was in front of Liara whose eyes were darting across the screen while CT chewed on her fingernails in anticipation. Tapping her on the shoulder, Garrus crouched down.

"Liara…" She turned her gaze from the screen, her eyes were wide as she looked at him. "What's the matter?"

Blinking a few times she licked her lips and said. "You're familiar with what happened during the explosion, correct?"  
Garrus nodded. "Yes, I was there on the ground fighting when the explosion hit. I heard the researches say that it's possible that the explosion wiped out all synthetics with Reaper code in their programming."

She turned back to the screen and hit the button. "Watch closely."

Looking to the screen, Garrus waited patiently along with Kaidan who looked just as confused as he felt. After a few moments the video Liara played for them, Garrus and Kaidan's jaws both dropped when they saw something stumble across the screen but only the turian spoke as the stumbling form came into focus.

"By the spirits. EDI?"


	6. Chapter 6

On to chapter 6...and trust me…I have plans! Do not think what I'm doing is just pointless. I approach many of my stories as character studies so that's what is going on right now. I see too many fics where we only concentrate on Shepard and you spend a large amount of time with the crew, so why not focus on them for a bit. I have a plan so yes there is a method to my madness.

Oh and for a portion of the fic just look up "Mass Effect: Scale Itch" on Deviantart by ghostfire…I've made that picture head canon.

Chapter 6

Garrus and Kaidan were in the garage that they called the armory loading up on fresh clips and checking their weapons. There was a heavy silence between them as they finished their preparations. They had a few days supplies packed up and were waiting for Liara to have the information of EDI's last known location sent to them.

"Are you sure we should be wasting our time following this shit? Is it really going to hurt Joker that much if he actually has to sleep with someone that won't kill him because his bones are too fucking fragile?"

Giving her a confused stare, Garrus asked, "What the hell are yout alking about?"

Jack pointed at the image of EDI entering some ruins. "Well why the hell else would we be wasting our time with this?"

Cocking a clip into place, Kaidan sighed. "Garrus brought EDI back to the camp after the explosion. She was off line and last we knew she was being contained on an Aliance vessel. But as you can see, that isn't the case."

Hopping up on a nearby table, she popped a bit few bits of candy in her mouth and asked, "And you're sure it's EDI wandering around? You don't think someone might have, I don't know turned her back on?"

Slipping his sniper rifle into it's hoslter, Garrus grunted. "That's precisely why we're following her. Only a few select people have access to her, and the geth, well we know what the geth platforms are being used for." Jack and Kaidan both shivered at the prospect of the quarian's plans for the large amount of geth bodies and ships,but unless given the orders it was none of their business.

"Fine, but do we really have to take him? EDI isn't even organic she doesn't have smell like anything." Urz growled at then barked but she just laughed. "Do something about it you scale itch spreading bastard."

Urz ran toward, fangs bared and Jack hopped off the table in a boxing stance going into a mock fight with the beast.

Garrus shook his head and pointed to the end of the garage. "If you two are done playing around, I figure you would like to earn your keep." Urz stopped his fighting but turned back and snapped at Jack after she kicked him in the hindquarters.

"Serves you right you." When she looked up from the varren she saw Garrus and Kaidan staring at her with disgusted looks. "What the hell are you fuckers looking at?"

"How did a varren that's never been on the Normandy spread scale itch?"  
Jack shrugged and said, "The fuck if I know. All I know is the worm gave me a prevantative vaccine after a few people got it." She looked at Garrus who immediately scratched his head getting Kaidan's attention.

"Garrus? Do you know how it got on the ship?"

"I'm only guilty of going planet side. But I took an oath of silence to not speak on the matter."

Jack kicked a garbage can and stomped off muttering, "Fucking turian….can't get him drunk…"

Kaidan gave Garrus a knowing look and the turian was prepared to answer when his omni-tool beeped. Thanking the spirits silently, Garrus answered the call to see Liara and CT's faces. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your calling me?"

Liara rolled her eyes at Garrus's mock attempt at flattery. "Your flirts aren't exactly inspiring confidence in me before this mission Garrus."

Heading toward the door, the turian opened it. Urz immediately bolted out and relieved himself on a dilapidated car. "Oh that's real attractive."

"What is attractive?"

"Never mind. You have some information for me?"

CT nodded. "I'm uploading it right now. It looks like you have two day trek to it."

"Are you sure that we're going to find her?" Kaidan asked, patching into the feed. "I mean EDI isn't exactly stupid and if she's running at even a fraction of her normal capacity she won't stay in one place long for fear of being discovered."

"We've pulled the drones but not before installing several cameras. And from the looks of things she has not left the place where we spotted her no has she decided to acknowledge the cameras. Though for EDI I wouldn't say that's unusual."

"What's more unusual than a supposedly deactivated AI walking around in her artifical body?"

Liara gave him a smile. "This is a good thing if she is up and working Garrus. If EDI is awake it means that the geth could reawaken as well."

"And if they've been reset it means that they could attack if we turn our weapons on them."

Garrus looked at Jack wit a look of admiration. "And people say you're only good for teaching people to blow shit up."

Jack flipped the turian off before climbing down off the pile. "Well I've lived this long and I we all owe Legion a debt."

Nothing else needed to be said and Liara was interrupted by another call. "Shit, Liara it's the Primarch. We'll keep you posted."

Hanging up the call, Garrus opened up the map in his visor and they began their trek across the rubble as he talked.

"Primarch do what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Youknow why, I'm calling Vakarian. Clearly you screwed up in determining as to whether or not that A.I. was actually deactivated."

Pushing open a door, Garrus raised his rifle along with Kaidan while Jack and Urz covered them. After checking that they hall was clear they continued on as Garrus asked, "I was fighting, Reaper troops, sir. After the explosion I saw them fall down and EDI wasn't moving. So, I made the agreed conclusion that the deactivation was a result of the explosion."

"Did you even bother to run a diagnostic on it?"

"Of course I did. But then again, my crew's tech was in the middle of receiving medical attention due to her leg getting blown off so my work wasn't as thorough as hers."

He heard Victus sigh and his finger tap on something. "Don't' think I was sitting idly on the side lines Vakarian. I have spilt more blood than you'll ever know."

"Then you should know that not in the middle of a combat zone even the most careful expert can make a mistake."

He heard the Primarch's teeth grind. "Just take care of the issue, Vakarian. Spirits know what will happen if the public got ahold of this information."

Garrus heard a beep in his ear and turned his attention to the task at hand. The trek was long for the day, the path they were taking was completely demolished and there were no signs of anyone even being in the area. They didn't know if it was because the Reapers had hauled the bodies away, but the darkness and lack of a decent light source was sending chills down all their spines.

It was strange being on the Citadel and not seeing the normal hustle of life. The once vibrant station was now desolate and decayed like the major cities of the planet below. The trek was slow. Without the cars or the mechs, they had to be very careful when climbing through the rubble and despite their better judgement they didn't stop until the next morning covering most of the path before settling down.

Resting comfortably on a far wall with Urz snoring beside him, Garrus watched Jack and Kaidan doze peacefully and smiled as he pulled out the journal and read the date to himself.

"October 7th 2172 to January 4th 2173."

He had to have guessed this was the first journal Shepard had written and despite the urge to read it. He simply tucked it back into his pack and fell asleep to the gentle snores of the beast beside him, but not before pulling a hip flask of his combat belt and drained it.  
The next morning he woke with a start. Urz had let out a loud bark and immediately he grabbed his sniper rifle and saw Kaidan and Jack taking cover behind a few pillars. Jack had a familiar pair of goggles on and Kaidan his helmet. He waved his hand and Kaidan gave him a sign back. Slipping his helmet on, he activated the night vision and once after giving Kaidan a thumbs up, the major deactivated their light source and they waited quietly.

Urz was growling loudly but with a click of his tongue, Garrus was able to silence him. But he wasn't about to keep the creature from incapacitating someone they would identify as a threat. Keeping his weapon steady he slowly scanned the darkness looking for any sign of life. They had cut communications with the base camp and between their suits in case any one had radio scanners, which they knew EDI did, and relied on hand signals that Shepard had forced them to learn on their time aboard the Normandy.

It was an effective batttlefield advantage since it was of Shepard's own desing, but if they were fighting a reactivated EDI that wasn't fully aware of who her opponents were, the signals would either help them or destroy them if the body could access those files. Walking forward, his feet barely making a sound he scanned the room before hearing a shot ring out. He felt his head jerk back and and cursed as the bullet ricocheted off his helmet.

Turnning in the direction of the shot, he swept his rifle back and forth trying to find the person who fired. Taking a few steps forward, he heard Jack shout and watched as she got the wind knocked out of her and clutched her stomach as something hit her in the face sending her against the wall.

He saw Kaidan's gun flashed and saw a small jumble of electricity appear but couldn't make out the form but he could make out the distortion as the creature moved toward him. Steadying his aim he let a shot out and watched as the round made contact with something but it refused to stop. But it gave Kaidan just enough time to send out the familiar pulse of electricity.

Garrus shut his eyes from the flash of light and when he opened them he could make out the sinewy form of a geth in a dead lock with Kaidan. Before he could move, Urz was rushing forward and using the power in his legs, sent the platform flying into the wall.

Before Urz could sink his fangs into the geth, the synthetic kicked at the animal and sent him soaring. The geth stood up and activated it's stealth mode and disappeared before Garrus could shoot it.

"DAMN IT!"

Kaidan turned on his flash lights and headed over to the injured biotic. She was sitting up and coughing loudly clutching her side.

"Was that a fucking geth?"

Scanning her with his omni-tool Kaidan nodded. "It looks that way. Bastard looked like a modified Hunter. But the important part thing is that it didn't kill us."

Turning off his night vision and switching to the flash light, Garrus wandered over to where his bullet had made contact and found some strange fluid on the ground. Crouching down turned on a particulate scanner he'd had installed in his helmet and let it take in the information. When it beeped the targeting system began scanning around him and finally he got a hit just past Jack and summoned Urz with a snap of his fingers.

Immediately the varren was at his side and he pointed at the liquid. The creature sniffed it and growled loudly and barked rushing to the door way. Running past Jack and Kaidan, Garrus paid no attention to their screams as his feet flew across the ground racing after Urz. They ran for what seemed like an hour, twisting and turning between the buildings. The only sound was his haggard breaths

He was barely able to keep up with Urz until finally they stopped in front of destroyed restaurant. Urz was breathing heavily and drool was dripping from his tongue. Garrus felt the same way. Switching to his assault rifle, he switched to his armor piercing rounds and proceeded slowly. His hands were shaking due to the lack of oxygen and he took big gulps of air to try and steady himself. He didn't know where they were, his tracking had been knocked out again because of the bullet the geth had fired at him.

Proceeding slowly, he heard glass scrape the ground beneath his feet. When he took what he thought was his tenth or eleventh step he heard something crash behind him and turned on his heel and immediately dropped into the standard combat firing position only to curse under his breath at discovering it was only Urz sniffing around for any sign of their quarry.

Snapping his finger again, the beast backed away from the stack of chairs he'd just knocked over and stood followed where Garrus pointed. Once Urz was in sight, Garrus followed him into the restaurants kitchen. Urz tried to back out and Garrus could tell why, despite varren being known to eat just about anything they could get their hands on, if it made them sick from the stench they wouldn't go near it. And from what Garrus could tell, the refrigeration was broken in this restaurant and even he wanted to vomit but they couldn't turn back.

"Settle down boy. I need you to find out where it went. Can you do that for me?"

Urz looked up at him, as if pleading but lowered his head again and began sniffing loudly. Proceeding with caution, Garrus kept Urz close in case of traps. The beast may not have been his, but he knew Shepard had a soft spot for him and he would keep the creature safe.

After several minutes of watching him sniff , the animal began pawing at the floor as if trying to dig its way through Crouching down he pulled out a knife and tapped around the Urz's paws. He could hear something was off with it as if it was hollow. Activating his omni-tool he started a scan and found an interface hidden in the walls. It was a simple code for him to break and after bypassing it he heard the floor creek open and headed down the steps after telling Urz to go back for Kaidan and Jack.

The varren grunted and left much more quietly than when he entered. It was stupid for him to go in alone, but he didn't have time to waste. The sighting of EDI and the geth that attacked him took priority and theyd idn't have time to waste. He was surprised at what he saw beneath the restaurant. Several rooms were barred off, but it was the fact that those rooms existed that got his attention.

When he reached an open door he found the room littered with mech parts and weaponry. And he figured out why the geth had taken refuge in such a location. Though the parts weren't as advanced as what the geth used in their platforms many of them could be used to make basic repairs to the bodies and the weaponry they used.

After checking his fifth room he heard a familiar buzzing noise and shut off his flash light. The hallway was dim, but light from a room further down the hallway guided him. As he grew closer he could hear other bits of the buzzing noise along with the sounds of a female voice. He couldn't identify who was talking but the fact that he could hear them was enough for him to set a few proximity mines near by incase he had to make an escape. Though the explosion wouldn't be enough to stop them permanently it would be enough for him to slow them down while he headed back to Kaidan and Jack. Or at least hide until he could open a communications channel.

Getting closer, the voice became clearer but so did the other voices. He was certain he could hear voices that were similar to those of humans and other species but before he could decipher them everything got quiet and a familiar voice said, "I know you're there. If you wish to survive I would high recommend making yourself known to us. We do not wish you harm, but if you do not deactivate those mines you have just placed you will be harming more people than you realize. "

Knowing when he'd been caught, Garrus appeared and put his rifle back on his back and deactivated his bombs before looking up and seeing EDI standing amidst a group of geth, humans, turian, batarian, and other races and all of them with weapons trained on him.

Shaking his head he asked, "Honestly EDI after all we've been through you can't expect me to take a few precautions since you decided to escape from the Alliance after I carried you back to the base camp?" He just noticed for the first time that his microphone sounded a bit off and would have bet anything it was because of the bullet his helmet had taken earlier.

Her eyes narrowed at this inquiry but her gun remained level with his neck. "I'm sorry, but I do not understand the reference. I've just recently reactivated in the past few weeks and am concerned that the lack of my presence may have been noticed. And your presence here confirms my suspicions."

"Of course people are going to notice you missing EDI. How many fully self-aware A.I.'s are running around living in a hole with a bunch of civilians along with a bunch of supposedly dead geth."

The geth he had damaged earlier cocked it's gun and he couldn't help but laugh. "I think you'd need me to calibrate you before you you could fire that thing properly."

He looked at EDI's face and saw her eyes widen and motion for them all to lower their guns. Reaching up he pulled his helmet off and she gave him a smile. "I must say the odds of finding you here are astronomical, Garrus. But," she gave a small pause, "It is good to see you."

"Likewise, EDI." His own smile being portrayed by the gentle twitching of his mandibles. "But before we get into that I'd like to know how you and a bunch of geth ended up here and shooting at myself, Jack, and Kaidan?"

Setting her gun on her hip, she told the others to wait for her as she led him back into the dark hallway. As she sighed, "Garrus, even I don't think I can fully explain why I'm still alive."

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll take our time. But let's head upstairs. I don't think you want Jack coming in here after what happened with your injured geth friend."

She gave a small laugh. "I think that would be most wise."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7! And yay for EDI! Now to explain how they are still alive, much of the next page is for Jack's benefit. And uhhh around page fivegets a little weirdclinical weird not like disgusting weird. But please read my fic "The Entry" this chapter has a massive like revelation that was made relevant in that fic as that fic is in a sense both the Prequel and Epilogue of this story. seriously it will help your sanity. Hell I expect to lose readers because of this chapter but you know what I stand by it.

Chapter 7

Jack was cursing, again, and Kaidan was laughing as he watched her hop around in pain after once again failing to engage one of her deadly biotic punches. Garrus was taking another couple of sips from his hip flask while EDI laughed at this. It was strange to hear her actually have a laugh, but to Garrus it was quite soothing. There hadn't been a lot of laughing over the past couple of months, and hearing the digitized laughing of a fully self aware artificial intelligence was probably the best thing he'd heard in awhile, though the sadistic nature of the laugh was a litle unnerving.

When Jack finally stopped her cursing, EDI said, "It's nice to see you as well, Jack. I would like to apologize in advance for the actions of one of my new companions. He is by nature what humans would describe as 'jumpy.'"

This caught Garrus's attention. "So, he's got a personality then?"

EDI nodded and smiled. "Yes, as you are well aware, Kaidan and Garrus, Shepard brokered the peace between the geth and the quarians allowing the geth to integrate Reaper based code into their systems and allow for them to become individuals rather than a hive mind. Thus making each geth come to the awareness of themselves and over several weeks grow a personality all on their own."

Jack looked confused, "And how would you describe your own personality, EDI?"

EDI paused for a moment, a reflective look on her face. "I was originally built as an artificial intelligence for a military installation. My main processes were to protect the base that I considered my body and that thought process transferred over to the Normandy and it's crew. Upon talking with Shepard she made me realize that protection wasn't enough and I modified my parameters thanks to our discussions. I came to realize that the needs of the many outweigh my own thoughts on self preservation. Though I would still prefer to protect myself and Jeff over others, I have come to my own conclusion that by doing so I would cause more harm than good as each individual can affect the lives of others in more ways than just what they do in their professions."

Jack's eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of her head as she processed this. "So you came to the conclusion that you wanted to protect people and help others because you 'felt' you needed to?"

EDI gave her a knowing smile. "In a manner of speaking, Jack. Though at the time of my decision it was calculated after processing my memories and seeing how others protected me, I felt that it would dishonor them if I betrayed that trust and sacrifice for my own personal gain."

The just shrugged. "Whatever. As long as you're still the same old EDI and are willing to help us out, you can do who and whatever you want."

EDI looked a bit stunned at this revelation but her eyes showed genuine gratitude at the woman's answer. "Thank you, Jack. That is rather nice of you to say."  
Jack chuckled and gave EDI a pat on the arm. "You've saved my ass plenty of times and after the shit I've done I have no right to stop you."

Garrus snorted at Jack who flipped him off before adding, "So how the hell are you and those geth still even functioning?"

EDI's brow furrowed at this inquiry. "To be honest, I am not completely sure. I remember fighting with Garrus, and then, nothing until I woke up aboard the Alliance vessel along with a few extra bodies I had shipped to the fleet using the Cerberus systems while we were at the Headquarters. It was simple enough to put the body into the container I was in after hacking my way out."

Kaidan's face was intense stare was on her and the silvery mouth asked, "Is there a problem, Major Alenko?"

Rubbing the back of his head, the major sighed. "I'm just a little confused EDI."

"If there is something you aren't understanding I would be happy to filli n the blanks."

Garrus watched Kaidan and knew what was on his mind. He had been thinking the same thing Kaidan was saying.

"You told me that you considered the Normandy your body and the drive core your heart and that you could only use this platform in the range of the Normandy's communications equipment, am I right in this assumption?"

She nodded.

"So if the Normandy has nearly no power in it thanks to the crash it took after the battle, that would mean the A.I. core is shut down. How are you still moving?"

Garrus could see a familiar blue glow to EDI's eyes before she answered. "That information is actually blocked from me, Kaidan. I am concerned with this myself and would like to know the answers but I figured locating you all was priority. Though I apologize for hiding myself for so long. The shuttle I climbed aboard dropped me off a short way from here and after finding the survivors you saw Garrus I felt I had to help them."

"Dropped you off?"

EDI smiled, "I may have momentarily caused a small problem with their drive core forcing me them to land. And when they exited I simply slipped out the back and made my way here after picking up several life signs."

"And that geth who shot us?"

EDI shrugged. "Like me they are based upon Reaper technology. The best we've been able to come up with thanks to the lack of an integrated network is that due to our preferences in our programming that despite our Reaper code enough was to keep that explosion from doing to us what it did to the Reaper troops. Though I am rather skeptic about this. As Kaidan pointed out with the Normandy shut down I shouldn't even be alive. Rosek and Irani instead have hardwired themselves to their platforms until upgrades can be made."

"They have names?"

EDI nodded at the turian. "Yes, Irani repurposed herself to help with medical issues and Rosek, the jumpy one, is more apt at infiltration than anything else. That is why he ran from you. He seems to have decided that the best way to stay alive is to try and avoid organics as much as possible."

"That didn't stop him from attacking us."

EDI sighed, "When he feels pushed into a corner he tends to over react. He forgets that many organics will listen should he decide to actually speak, but."

She trailed off and Garrus scratched his chin. "That's was rather stupid for him to do. He's lucky that we weren't aiming to kill," he paused and turned his stern expression to their friend, "and he's lucky that I found you or I would have set off those explosives."

"I'm certain they're most grateful for your discretion on the matter and giving us the benefit of the doubt." The voice was from a volus, his respirator hissing loudly with every few words. He was one of the few people in the room that Garrus noticed wasn't carrying a weapon.

"And your name is?"

EDI stepped back and pointed at the round ball that was the woman. "I present to you the current head of Elkoss industries, Maian Elkoss the first wife of the former head of the company. It is because of her that many of the people you've seen alive are even surviving."

"Thank you, EDI." Her voice was heavy with air. She seemed much less formal than most volus but her voice carried just as much weight as one who stood at the head of a powerful family. "You have our thanks, Earth-clans and Palaven-clan. As EDI said I am Maian and upon the death of my husband I now hold majority control over Elkoss industries."

They all nodded in polite response but it was Jack who broke the silence. "What good is having control of a company going to do for us? We didn't come for a company, we came to figure out why the hell EDI is suddenly up and about. What can you offer us?"

Maian pulled up her omni-tool and pulled up a video file. We've been stranded here for weeks scrounging to survive. Luckily my husbands company had several stockpiles hidden for emergencies. It took us a few days to clear the rubble to get to where you found us."

She looked to Garrus and the others her breathing nervous. "Have you come into contact with the mercs that have been scavenging?"

Garrus nodded. "We've taken over their headquarters under the orders of what remains of the governments here in the Sol system. It's safe, plenty of food, and we can get you off the Citadel should you wish to leave."

The volus let out a long sigh of relief. "I appreciate the offer. Thank you, Palaven-Clan."

"I much prefer Garrus."

She stepped back in surprise. "You're the crew of Commander Shepard?"

Garrus looked at Jack and Kaidan who lowered their eyes. "Former crew, ma'am. The Normandy has been destroyed and body."

He felt his throat close and saw EDI's face lock but he could see pain in the artificial eyes. There was a gripping silence save for Maian's respirator, as if a moment of silence was being taken.

Finally she spoke. "I am sorry to hear that. It is not unexpected of course, but she has my deepest respects as do you all. It is such a loss."

Garrus wanted to punch her despite the kindness in her voice, but he kept himself in check. "Thank you for the words, ma'am. But if it's all the same you said there were stockpiles of supplies from your company?"

She nodded, "Absolutely. This was a small one, but there are a couple of larger ones nearby. My huband was able to skirt around many of the Council's regulations. Our legal teams were second to none and the supplies I have been able to access using what little of the system we've repaired seem to be in good order. But I doubt my people will be willing to leave this place. Some of them were born on the Citadel and there are children as well who wish to not leave." Her breaths were a little quicker as if nervous of what they might do because of her requests.

Garrus activated his omni-tool and asked for her permission to transmit a file. When she did he sent the communications signal of Admiral Hackett and the remaning Council members. "I will forward them a message with your requests. I'm certain they will accommodate you. As your books have said these are times to forgive debts and worry about helping others than ourselves."

If she wasn't wearing her mask, he could swear she was about to cry, but instead she wheezed. "Thank you, Garrus. As payment for your kindness I feel I should show you something. Would you four please follow me down?"

"Are you sure that's wise? I nearly blew you all to hell a few minutes ago?"

Maian turned back and tutted. "Please, Garrus I think they'd be understanding of the circumstances if not, then we will send you on your way and I shall contact the people you've given me the communications for. But not after a bite to eat and a good nights rest."

Looking back at the others, Garrus saw Jack's hand swelling and her breathing become more ragged while Kaidan looked a little beat but none the worse for wear. He figured if they had to go, leaving Jack behind would work to their advantage the only problem was convincing her to stay if it was necessary.

Heading back down, they found that the underground shelter was now fully in swing. The lights were on and the former clutter was actually cleared away rather quickly revealing that many of the rooms Garrus had found blocked were in habited by families. As they walked with Maian little kids came up to them and began pestering them with questions. Mostly Jack about her tattoos and scars.

She scared them off with a few comments, but the kids always ran away laughing, which made her groan in pain and clutch her sides.

They made their way back to the room where Garrus found them trying to patch up Rosek. The room was now empty save for a turian female and the geth he figured to be Inari due to her body design. The turian looked up at them and stopped, dropping her tray. The sound caught Garrus's attention and he dropped his rifle.

"Garrus?"

In an instnat he was on her, lifting her off the ground and she was laughing madly. Kaidan and the others stared as they spun around and danced madly. Their voices garbled as they spoke so fast the translators couldn't keep up. By the time they were done, Garrus had tears streaming down his face while the female brushed them away.

"You really are a bad turian."

He laughed and pulled her close. "I never thought I'd see you again."

She pulled him close and their was a loud purr from her throat. "Same goes to you big brother."

Hours later, Garrus was sitting in a room, Kaidan was snoring loudly while Urz dozed happily at the foot of his bed. While he fumbled around with his visor. It still wasn't working properly after being shot, but it had been through worse and he finally got it back to a working condition. He turned it over in his hands and looked at the names of his old squad mates. The scorch mark where he'd crossed out Sidonis's name was still visible. Shepard had talked him out of killing the bastard and he'd accepted it.

Sidonis had a choice and made it. It was a bad choice and he was dealing with the concsquences. And Garrus, he was still feeling the weight of his.

Reaching to his hip he took the flask out and drained the contents and shook his head. Kaidan mumbled something in his sleep but he ignored it. Instead he picked up a sodering iron and began to gently move it along the metal. When he was finished he pulled the journals from his pack and looked them over. The numbers stared at him. The one he had been reading marked with the number fifteen the other number one. He tapped his fingers along the covers of both of them and let out a loud sigh and pulled open the one marked with the number one.

_March 21st 2172_

_So I decided to take Dad's advice and start writing this journal. Though I'm not in the military yet, but I figured what the hell I may as well start with the events prior to the beginnings of my illustrious career as he calls it. But what to start withwell I guess I can say now that I finally had the surgery. It's done and it's gone. It's weird I've had it my whole life and I voluntarily let it go and now I feel whole and complete. Which is rather unusual because sometimes I still think it's there._

_Dad laughs at me some times, teasing me about it but it is in jest. He's my Dad and he's supported me my whole life so I let him get away with itto a point and then well he shuts up for a few days after my retaliation._

_I can hear him snoring even back here in my room and let's just say things are incredibly uncomfortable no matter how I position myself. And above that the doctors said I had to continue the shots. But I suppose it's a fair trade if it keeps me who I am. So I figure what's the occasional shot and discomfort?_

_Mom is still worried about me as we haven't heard back from the Alliance about a recruitment appointment. I had to give them my medical records and let's just say we aren't optimistic. I figure it's a long shot so I even applied for a few colleges as a back up plan. I secretly think Mom is postponing my appointment but then again I can't blame her. My scars are still fresh and a physical can't be done until I'm healed and I'll still need to get back into decent enough shape thanks to my "recovery" as they call it and I know Dad is just waiting to put me back through the paces of his work out regimen._

_I honestly think the man was born a tank with the amount of exercises he makes me do. But he always said, "Men in the Alliance are tough, the women are tougher. But you, Leela will need to be ten times what they are just to earn their respect."_

_Sometimes I find myself praying that I don't get the call._

_But I'm here, with them. Dad's snoring on the couch a couple of beers in front of him and Mom is out shopping and I'm alone. I'm thinking that I'm actually rather lucky. A lot of people like me go through a living hell no one can imagine and sometimes all alone, even with their families there. But here I am with my parents and I can't help but think I'm an incredibly lucky; I guess the word woman is now legally and physically accurate. I even had my identifcation all changed earlier this year. Scared the living hell out of the people at the licensing department but I just smiled at them and at the fact that they had to follow through with it. Did they deserve my being a smartass? Probably not, but I figured one time it would be fun to mess with somebody._

_Still though I'm scared not only about the military but what will happen in my life from this point on. I was dumpedwell this time I did the dumping. Mostly because once again I backed out when things got too "intense." Once again I feel like a victim to someone with a fetish. Maybe things will be different in a few years. I hear the gap between the mind of an eighteen year old and a twenty-two year old is rather large. Maybe then the people I'm interested in might actually give a rats ass about what I was before. Mom says I should just keep it to myself. But they have pictures of me everywhere as who I am now and who I was before. Questions will come up, and I've hidden too long and I won't hide again._

_Anyway, Mom is yelling at Dad meaning I have to help with the food._

_God I sound like a whiny little brat. I'm going to blame this on the estrogen shots._

Garrus laughed at the comment and was prepared to shut the journal when he saw ink on the back of another page he turned it over and couldn't help but laugh again at what he saw.

_Dad is one crafty bastard. He's using the hormone excuse for me since I blew up at mom for calling her on her bullshit about hiding the phone calls from me. Looks like I'm getting a ton of new books and an expensive dinner. Sorry Mom, you brought this on yourself._

"What's so funny Garrus?"

He looked up at the door and saw Solana standing there with a bottle of what looked to be rather expensive turian brandy. Giving a nervous look over at Kaidan, Garrus saw him asleep and left the room quietly with Urz hot on his heels.

When they were far enough away from the door, Garrus replaced his visor and said, "I was just reading something about her."

Opening the bottle, his sister took a sip of the liquid and he could tell it was the good stuf. "Who is 'her?' Commander Shepard?"

Taking a swig of his own he shuddered at the strength of it and gave it back to her as they exited the ruins and sat down under the stars. Gazing up at them longingly he said, "Yeah, Commander Shepard."

He felt his sister's eyes drilling into him and he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "What's that look for?"

She gave him a knowing smile and punched him in the arm. "You really are a bad Turian. You know that?"

Laughing as he stretched out his legs he pulled the dog tags out of their hiding spot and smirked. "So what if I am. Still managed to help save the galaxy."

She passed him the bottle and stretched out her own legs, the brace creaking gently. He felt a pang of guilt at the sight of it. "Yeah you, sure did. Dad's proud of you."

He stopped mid drink. "He's safe?"

She shrugged. "He was the last time I talked to him. He sent me to the Citadel like a lot of people did thinking it'd be safe while he joined the fleet after we left Palaven. Talked to him the day before we got transported here without consent. Haven't heard anything yet from him but he said if I saw you before him to let you know that he was at least proud of you and to thank you for doing your best to help, Mom."

He knew Solana was telling the truth. There were few things he knew for certain in the universe and one of those was that his sister was an incredibly honest woman when she had a bit of alcohol in her.

Garrus took another long gulp of alcohol. He'd never been the turian he was supposed to be but he tried. He'd even snuck some Collector DNA to a salarian scientist to help his mother. Problem was his efforts were too little too late. But he was there for her in the end, and she died in peace. That all seemed like years ago and for a while him and his sister passed the bottle back and forth before she asked.

"So, you've picked a human?"

He nodded. "And she picked me."

"Bet that was an awkward night."

He barked with laughter and didn't stop for a few minutes earning looks of concern from his sister and Urz when he finally stopped he coughed.

"A little bit."

She laughed, "I bet that's what she said when she saw it."

They both laughed at this and Urz got up and headed back into the restaurant. When they finally calmed down he shook his head. "It wasn't as bad as you'd think. Difficult yes, but it felt right. One of the few things that I'll never regret when I die."

"Even if it means denying Dad a few extra grandkids?"

He shrugged and set the bottle down. "Even if we could, she wouldn't be able to."

"Sterile?"

Garrus nodded, "In a manner of speaking. But even then I probably wouldn't have been able to give him a few anyway."

"Why's that?"

"Seventh story ledge and me black out drunk."

He didn't need to say any more for her to scoot over to him, the gravel shifting under her frame and she pulled him to her shoulder as he pulled out the journal. "These and the dog tags, Sol. That's all anyone can find of her that isn't some sort of recording."

She rubbed her head against his and gently sang a song from their childhood that their mother always sang to them. It calmed him and he purred against her chest as she sang. When she was done he sat up and laughed. "Thanks."

She nudged him. "Feeling better?"

He shrugged, "Finally feeling something."

She took his hand in hers and squeezed. "It's a start."


	8. Chapter 8

I figured out something for chapter 8. Thanks Raven-Jade-Wolf for helping me with a few things. And I bet I lost readers thanks to the last chapter. I told ya guys to read "the entry" before this so you wouldn't get shocked by what happens later. Oh well, thanks for the readership it is appreciated. And next couple of chapters are a bit brighter in tone. I was watching The Muppets writing this and I finish it off at "rainbow Connection." I feel we need a bit of something else besides Garrus being surly.

Chapter 8

His head was pounding, again. He hadn't even had anything to drink the night before, well that he could remember. He tried to lift his head but it fell to the pillow again and he felt like he was going to be sick. If he had drank and the Primarch and Hackett had been told by Kaidan he would have an even larger headache than what he had now, and the stick would be used as the tool that he was beaten with.

Vision blurred he looked around the room and cringed as his eyes rested upon a lamp. His visor was on the small crate he was using as night stand. Reaching over he put it on and activated it. Once again it was broken and he racked his brain to figure out why but his head felt like it had a bullet pass through it when he tried. He remembered being sober for the past few days, the first time in awhile but the cause of his headache escaped him.

Sitting up, he felt his stomach churn.

"Shit, not again." He looked around for a bin and found none but after taking a few deep, solid breaths he felt his stomach settle. Slowly moving his legs over the side of the bed, he rested his head between his knees and continued to breathe deeply as his head continued to pound. After a few minutes he felt better and lifted his head slowly. The pounding was still continuing and he could hear the kids running around outside screaming loudly. It didn't help, but it didn't hurt either.

Laughter was good, they were young and had lived through hell, but they grew strong from it and even those that had lost friends and family were finding reason to laugh. It'd only been a short time, but things were looking up for the Sol system and for them as well. At least in terms of survival.

Maian had been true to her word and with the help of several droids the arm of the Citadel the supply base was located on was slowly beginning repairs. Liara on the other hand had been working with the engineers on finding a way to the power supply of the arms. But the Keeper tunnels they planned on using were locked by codes of origins far older than the Reapers. And more advanced.

It was not a pleasant thought for them to be stuck without access to those tunnels. They had yet to see a single Keeper and the lack of them being around was too terrifying comprehend. Garrus was of the mind that they were possibly better off without them, but he knew of their value. They were designed to care of the Citadel and without them, he didn't want to think how badly things could go if they couldn't fix the life support functions.

As his vision became clearer, he felt a familiar nudge on his arm and chuckled. "Hey, boy."

He raised his head slowly and Urz slid his head on to his thigh. Garrus finally noticed that he was in his civilian attire. The pain made it too much of a problem to think about, but he definitely remembered being in his combat uniform the night before. "Must have stripped in my sleep. What do you think?"

Urz snorted at him before followed by a loud grumble. Scratching between the tendrils on his varren's head. "So no one fed you while I was asleep?" Another snort came from the beast Garrus pushed himself up gently off the bed. He wavered momentarily but Urz moved behind him giving him support.

His head was still splitting, but the nausea was less prevalent. "Thanks, Urz."

The varren wandered around his front and toward the door, keeping within two steps of his new master as they wandered through the crowded hallways. His vision was still fuzzy, but he could make his way through the crowd easily enough. Especially with Urz forcing people to back off just by making a simple grunt.

Many knew he was harmless without provocation, but a varren was an intimidating sight even outside the battlefield. He apologized to a few people who responded in kind. Even a few children came up to Garrus and began talking with him. He saw some turian kids who had been on Earth, most likely political refugees from the embassies, human kids, and a few asari. Most ranging from six to fourteen. All of them stood in awe of him and tried to ask him questions but when he tried to speak it ended up sounding more like a hoarse growl.

When he was finally able to speak he growled, "Dry throat, kids."

With that they left him alone and when he finally came to the stairs, he gave took a deep breath and began his slow descent. It went smoothly for awhile and Urz was able to keep him up right until his foot caught the edge of a step and he went tumbling down the stairs. He could hear Urz barking as he tried to stop him, but it didn't help and soon he felt his back plates slam into the wall making his head explode in pain.

His arms felt like metal as he attempted to push himself up. He could feel his chest leave the ground, but the shaking in his arms kept him from getting more than a few inches off the ground and Urz was barely able to help with getting him into a sitting position. Scratching the beasts head as he leaned against the railing,

The pounding in his head was getting worse and his ears began ringing. The nausea was back as well. Focusing on his feet he felt his mind regain some amount of composure but his vision was blurred on top of everything else. He felt something leave his mouth, it tasted horrible, and his ears popped every time he took notice of the shape of Urz's mouth.

A shadow stood over him as his vision began to fade. He heard several voices but all he took notice of was strands of hair hitting his nose. It smelt like a fruit he'd seen her eat, he remembered her calling them strawberries.

"Leela."

And then the world was black.

* * *

He heard a scraping. And opened his eyes, she was sitting at the couch again. Her Eviscerator and Paladin laying out on the table. His guns were still in the corner, she never touched them. Her face was covered in gun oil and the tooth brush she used on the parts was so used that it was permanently stained black. He never understood her obsession with such an archaic method of cleaning. Climbing out of the bed he shook the sleep from his brain and heard her laugh in the corner.

"How long have you been up?"

She didn't take her eyes of the guns, her arms moving furiously to clean out some of the build up. He couldn't help but admire her body. She was soft that was for certain, but he could always see her training shine when she was in her bed clothes. It was always the same, a pair of shorts and a tank top that clung to her less than voluptuous frame. He couldn't help but laugh when he mentioned how her hips looked supportive. He remembered that night and felt stupid at trying to impress her. He was always an idiot when it came to romance, but she just made him feel even more awkward. But after their date, he finally felt that she was his and on their first official and was grateful that she had returned his feelings.

"I've been up for about three hours now." She replied as she wiped a bit of sweat from her brow and smiled in satisfaction at her work. She began reassembling the shotgun and looked at him with a smile. "You're getting old Vakarian."

He scoffed and took a sip of water from the bottle he'd brought up the night before. They'd stayed up talking late into the night again before falling asleep. Her curled against his chest as she snored heavily. Looking at the clock he figured that he'd been asleep for six hours. Looking at her he could see the bags under her eyes and parted his lips.

She pointed the toothbrush at him, the bristles glistening with oil as they dropped onto the towel beneath them. "Don't you even start with me, Vakarian. Or you can spend tonight in the main gun calibrating yourself while the rest of us go out and have a little fun."

Getting up he let out a loud yawn and felt something hit the back of his head. "HEY! I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!"

When he turned she was staring at the table as she began reassembling the shotgun. She kept her face firmly locked on the gun. Despite her hair being down from its usual pony tail he could see the corners of her mouth twitch, as she reinserted one of the springs in the pump. Once she'd finished reinstalling the pump, he sat down on the couch and focused his gaze on the back of her head. The smell of gun oil was intoxicating and he couldn't help but feel a little warm as he watched her.

As he watched her work could see her the muscles in her shoulders bunching up and he knew she was getting nervous. She was never afraid to express her feelings on a situation and when she tried to lie it was like watching a dog try and deny it had gotten into the garbage. Slipping slowly off the couch like a slinky he let his legs slowly go beneath her knees and brought his nose close to hers and sniffed loudly as he ran a claw gently on the back of her neck. His claw tracing along the scars that had formed from years of combat and surgeries.

She immediately shivered as the filed nail tickled the skin and he laughed. "You're a horrible liar, Leela Shepard."

She snorted and went back to her work as he wrapped an arm around her stomach and watched her put the weapon back together.

"Why do you use such an odd cleaning method? I have equipment that could probably clean it in only a few minutes."

She set down her tools and leaned back holding up her hands. They were stained black with grease and calloused from all of the fights she'd seen.

"It's because of Dad."

Her voice was actually rather happy as she said this. He'd seen her writing in what she called a "journal," on many occasions but he never bothered asking her about it. He'd accompanied her on many missions and based on when she wrote in them he knew what they were about. And if she felt necessary to talk about it she would say so. The only time he'd ever asked about them though she had mentioned her father, Mercutio was his name, and he listened to her. And from what she told him of her father he definitely lived up to what little information the Alliance made public of him.

"Tell me the story."

She leaned back into him. Her legs stretched out like his and, her feet barley making their way halfway down his shins. She laughed loudly at his request.

"You're going to have to tell me some stories about your family one of these days, Garry-bear."

His mandibles flared at the usage of her private name for him. "Well, I'm not much of a story teller and," blew a bit of air behind her ear and she shivered again, "and yyou know how much I love to listen to drone on and on about your escapades."

She elbowed him but he made no sign that it bothered him and he gripped her wrists tightly. "Now, now, be a good girl and maybe I'll buy you that new choke gauge you've been eyeballing."

Turning around she stuck out her tongue before saying, "I'll hold you to that."

There goes five thousand credits. Was the thought that went through his brain before resting his head on her shoulder.

"So explain to me why oral hygiene products are required in cleaning a high powered shotgun."

Rubbing her head against his she laughed. "Well humans haven't always been fortunate enough to have weapons like this. Ours were a bit more archaic. Instead of using high powered bits of metal accelerated by mass effect fields we used plastic shells with brass caps that were struck but a lever inside the gun that shot out small balls of metal."

"That was gunpowder right?"

She nodded, "You've been studying."

"Well you know me, Shepard." He gave her a gentle tap with his stiff lips on her neck. "I love studying."

He ran his fingers across her bare stomach and she was barely able to hide her laughter. "Yeah, yeah, you're a regular Casanova."

"No thanks, more than one of you is enough." She pulled her head away from his. When he looked at her he saw her eyes widened in shock and he shrugged. "He came up when I was looking up famous human romances."

She snorted and returned to her previous position before speaking again. "Well the gunpowder would build up in the guns. And if there was too much build up the guns would misfire and hurt people." She picked up the tooth brush and twirled it in the light. "Dad grew up using guns like those and had a small collection he brought with us. Parts were hard to find and he took care of them religiously on top of teaching me how to fight he taught me how to shoot and just being an all around awesome dad."

He took the toothbrush from her hands and they stared at it for a few minutes before she pulled up an old video with her omni-tool. She couldn't have been no more nine in the picture and her hair was down to her shoulders and she was wearing a hoodie and shorts as they threw cards down on the table laughing as they played. She was sitting in the lap of a large man who could have only been her father. From what Garrus found out he was roughly six and a half feet tall, with brown hair, tan skin, and nearly three hundred pounds of solid muscle.

On the inside of his forearm was a large N7 tattoo and his dog tags were on top of Leela's head in an attempt to block her view of the cards. She kept turning back and yelling at him to stop taking cards from the deck when she wasn't looking.

"Make me stop!' His voice had a slight accent he couldn't really place.

His voice was a deep booming sound and probably scared more people than he'd intended to in his life, but when he yelled at her it was nothing but joy.

Finally having enough she turned around and took the dog tags and slipped them around her neck and stuck her tongue out. "You're a cheater, Dad!"

"Oh really, my little passerotta?" He dropped his cards and began to tickling her. Their voices nothing but laughter as the video came to a stop.

Setting the toothbrush down, she turned on her side and buried her face in his neck. Grabbing the blanket off the couch he pulled it over her. Her breaths slowly turning into gentle snores.

"Commander Shepard?"

It was Traynor no doubt calling her for another communication.

"What is it, Sam?"

"Oh, Garrus I'm sorry. Is the commander available?"

"Is it urgent?"

"No, I'm certain it can wait."

"I'll wake her up in a couple hours, Traynor."

* * *

"Wake up, Garrus."

He blinked his eyes and shut them almost immediately, he thought he'd gone back to sleep with her in his arms but something was wrong with this picture. There was a bright light in his eye and he tried to speak but his throat felt like it was clenched shut. He growled loudly and heard a familiar voice.

"Relax, Garrus we'll take the tube out momentarily. I just had to check your pupils."

It was Dr. Chakwas and he noticed that the walls were oddly white and there was a blue sky out the window.

He stayed still as the pulled the tube from his nostrils and he hacked loudly and clutched his throat as Chakwas put on a fresh pair of gloves after washing them and pulled out a small container from a fridge. She opened it and pulled out an ice cube and he shook his head.

"Open."

His mouth dropped and she gently placed the cube in his mouth. His throat felt a thousand times better but still too sore to speak and after he chewed up the first one she fed him another. The process repeated for a few minutes until he waved his hand and spoke.

"What the hell happened?"

She put another cube in his mouth and looked out the window as if expecting this. "You took a heavy blow to the head while going on a patrol with a few of your new recruit's a couple of weeks ago."

"WEEKS?"

His voice was a raspy growl and she nodded feeding him another cube. He wanted to feed himself but his hands were too heavy.

"Don't force it, Garrus. But yes weeks. You were on patrol doing scavenging work. Jack had been called back to help Dr. Sanders with some work testing out new amps and implants. Liara was too busy cracking codes, Kaidan was called away by Hackett and you were left behind with CT and some other people to run the outpost until they could return."

She gave him a couple of more ice cubes before continuing.

"So while out on patrol, you happened to walk by a building where some mechs were working. They unfortunately did not pay attention to what was going on and you took a large chunk of concrete to your head after pushing the soldiers out of the way. It broke through your shields and cracked the casing on your helmet. The damage was equivalent to what Dr. Eva did to the Major. Though getting through your plates made the task several times more difficult and you're lucky the medics on your arm of the Citadel were able to get the swelling down and Cortez was on his way to pick you up. Though that tumble you took didn't help matters."

He rested his head against the pillows and exhaled loudly. "Was I unconscious the whole time?"

She chuckled at the question. "You were conscious many days, but not cognizant of what you were saying or doing. But, you responded well to the people who came in, though there were a few times when CT came in that you got a bit handsy."

He wanted to die then and asked the question he didn't want to know the answer to. "How bad was I?"

She put another couple of ice cubes in his mouth, "Not as bad as you think. You just played with her hair a lot and kept talking about how much it smelt like strawberries. And she amused you with idle chatter."

He thanked the spirits for keeping him under control. "How soon can I get back to work?"

She sighed and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder. "You'll have to take a couple of weeks off. Enjoy some of the nicer places we have here on Earth."

"A couple weeks?"

She nodded at the despair in his voice. "Garrus, you've been going non stop for over a year. I know what you've been doing to your body. You need to take a break and get yourself together. For her."

If there was one person he couldn't say no to besides Shepard, it was Chakwas. Sighing loudly he nodded. "Fine, I'll take a break." He turned to her and twitched his mandibles. "Fine, but I have a few conditions before I even agree to this."

Three days later he was inside a small shuttle staring out over the mountains of the country called Italy. He remembered Leela talking about it a few times. It was one of the countries her parents had taken her too on their trip and her father's home country. It was a beautiful place and he could see where many of the old ruins had lay, some were still intact and while they were gorgeous he couldn't help but admire the scenery. As they flew over the landscapes he could see smaller Reapers littering the landscape but a prefabricated village had been set up and he couldn't wait to get out of the shuttle even if he was confined to a wheel chair the next few days while Chakwas monitored his progress.

They landed in the small village nestled in the mountains and when the door opened he rolled himself out the door and took in the crisp cool air. He heard a rhythmic thumping behind him as it came down the ramp behind him turning to his right he saw Joker with his crutches, James with his arm still in a sling and a few of the other members of the Normandy crew come out of the shuttle.

Looking up at the pilot he smirked. "I thought you guys could use a break from the hospital."

James gave him a pat on the shoulder and sighed loudly. "Not a bad choice, Scars."

"Thanks a lot there, Paco. Just make sure to save me some wine."

"Not on my watch, Garrus."

The arms master swung his large rucksack over his shoulder and headed toward what looked like the soldier barracks and laughed at Garrus as Solana came out with her own bag followed by Joker who was looking rather surly.

"Something wrong, Moreau?"

Joker shook his head. "No, Garrus. It's a beautiful place. I just wish…"

Garrus reached up and gave his friend a gentle pat on the hand. Joker had just received news about his sister and his father. Neither of them had made it off of Tiptree add in the loss of EDI on top of his legs being mostly shattered and you couldn't even imagine the man living up to his former nickname.

"We've all lost something, Joker. But there's always a bright side."

"And here I thought it was my job to make everyone feel better." His voice was as dry as a burnt piece of wood.

"Normally yes, but take a look at James."

Joker did his best to fight looking at the soldier. But finally he broke when he heard the laughs from their friend and he couldn't help but look. Garrus saw disbelief, anger, fear, sadness, and finally bliss appear on his face as he began slowly moving toward the silvery form wearing a set of combat fatigues.

After staring at each other for a few moments, EDI smiled and pulled him gently to her as his chest shook violently while Urz sat next to him panting happily.

He began rolling his hands along the wheels as Solana walked beside him. "You've done a good thing for them, Garrus."

Shrugging he heard the clank of the dog tags against his chest. "They've earned it."

* * *

Authors note

Passerotta I believe is Italian for Sparrow.


	9. Chapter 9

ONWARD TO CHAPTER 9! So you guys holding up okay? Good? Glad they got a little ray of sunshine? So am I…was starting to bum myself out. I would just like to state that I am a very stream of consciousness writer. I have a point a, b, and c I like to get to but a lot of times I just pull things out of my ass. Almost like filler while I sort things out but the events usually have some connection in the grand scheme of things. and the silliness of this chapter is well a glimpse into my brain at times. But I find my sanity in the end…usually….though why I chose to ship a particular pair of people is beyond me. And the ending to this was once again a stream of consciousness thing that just grew out of nowhere. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 9

"OH THIS HORSESHIT!"

It was James and Jack this time cursing and Garrus laughing in victory. They'd been in the mountains for nearly a week and Garrus was finally starting to feel like his old self. Despite the limitations Chakwas was enforcing on him earning no sympathy from the others who had spent several consecutive weeks under the womans hawk like gaze.

"Just wait until she has to take a catheter out of you while you're conscious, then complain to me about her getting a little to close for comfort." Was Joker's response as he downed another soda earning a wary look from the doctor.

But for now James, Garrus, Jack, and Cortez had escaped from the woman's talons with a few rifles and several clips of practice rounds. Along with some empty wine bottles filled with water. Cortez was watching from a rock with Urz drooling in his lap enjoying his latest cup of wine. His injury from the crash wasn't bothering him and he had been their pilot to the valley Garrus had spotted. They'd set up on a large ridge and despite the lack of peripheral vision out of his now defunk right eye he handled the Kodiak easily.

Chambering another round, Jack pointed the Mantis out over the ledge and shouted for James to throw her fifth bottle. The bottle sailed out over into the valley its metallic casing shimmering in the early afternoon sunlight before she let out another round and cursed as she missed making Garrus and Steve laugh loudly.

"Should I just set them up on a rock and put you five feet away with a shotgun?"

Turning on her heel, she enjected the spent cartridge and threw the gun at Garrus's head. He caught it easily and twirled it with the practiced grace of a ceremonial rifle men. He placed the butt of it on the ground and smiled with his hand on the rifle.

"Fuck you, Garrus. You're the one responsible for the rifles! I bet you fucked with the sights while we weren't looking."

Rolling a another twenty feet back he handed the rifle to James who loaded it while Garrus removed his visor. Jack's eyes grew wide and he laughed as he covered his left eye with a large clot. "You called me out, Jack. So I'm calling you on your bullshit." Catching the rifle out of the air, Garrus held the gun in his lap while staring out at the valley. "PULL!"

James semt the bottle flying and Garrus waited as Jack stared out at the valley watching the bottle. Her mouth began growing into a large as she watched the bottle begin to fall into the forest. It was almost out of sight when suddenly there was a loud shot and the bottle was seen to explode in an eruption of water and glass.

Jack let out a loud roar and ran at Garrus who was pushing his chair up to her. When he arrived he pat her shoulder.

"There there, Jack. Give me thirty years and I'm certain you'll be able to hit it when it's ten feet from you." She raised her fist to punch him but he could see her fight the temptation and slowly her fist dropped to her side before shooting back up and slamming into his shoulder.

"Screw you Garrus. I still think you set the sights."She stormed off to Steve and dropped onto the ground next to his rock and opened up another bottle of vintage wine they'd found in an abandoned cellar. But not before shaking her hand where she'd hit one of his shoulder plates.

Making his way to James, he watched the arms master check the sights on his Phalanx. The human seemed lost in his thoughts, which to many wouldn't see a big deal. James was often seen as a person who lacked depth, but after growing closer to the human, Garrus knew that despite his lack of technical know how, James was capable of deeper thoughts. He just lacked the experience many people required to notice such things.

And from his time working with humans, Garrus realized many of them were like that. But it couldn't be helped, his species had millenia to become accustomed to galactic life. And in only thirty years humans had gone from being a nuisance, had earned a place in the Council, and above all a human had rallied them to fight against the creatures that had been responsible for the deaths of trillions for countless eons. So he'd learned to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"Something bothering you, James?"

The human tossed him a bottle and Garrus gave it a heavy chuck. James took a moment to line up his sights and let off a round. The bottle exploded and the human gave a momentary grunt victory. Reaching in for another bottle he shrugged.

"I've just been thinking about everything that's been going on while I've been in a hospital bed."

Giving the bottle another throw, Garrus watched it explode in rather beautiful display of colors and nodded. "Yeah? Anything in particular you've been thinking about? Or is it just the random jumble of thoughts?" He tossed another bottle to Garrus who gave another grunt and the bottle exploded a lot quicker than the other two.

"I'm guessing it's a bit more than that?"

Holstering the pistol he took one of the bottles and opened it. "You guessed right, Scars." he drained half the bottle in one swig which surprised even Garrus. "Shit's getting better right?"

Looking out a giant Reaper corpse the former vigilante shrugged. "In a manner of speaking. Still a long way to go, but I did receive some good news."

James snorted into his drink and shook his head. "What is it this time? They found another stash of supplies? Or wait, they finally found a way to get everyone home? Or better yet they found the body so we can…"

His voice trailed off and he scratched his head, "Sorry about that."

Garrus raised a hand and took out one of the bottles and twirled it between his fingers. "Don't worry about it." He gave the human a quick smirk, "I'm dealing with it, but I figured you'd like to hear that Tali's in recovery."

James eyebrow twitched at the news. "Sparks? How'd they pull that off?"

"Large amounts of anti-biotics to help with the initial infections followed by an upload from a geth that recently reactivated to run that viral program and several hours of surgery to prep her leg to receive a prosthetic."

"How much longer she got?"

The tone was not lost on Garrus and he covered the smirk with his hand. "She's got a few more weeks of rehab, but they're using her with Liara to help crack the codes on the remanants of the Citadel."

"That'll cut several years off their work."

Garrus let out a loud laugh and James chuckled. "I hear she's already made headway that's baffled most of the people they have stationed on the Crucible."

James fidgeted as Garrus spoke. "Yeah, I expected as much."

Unsure of what to say, Garrus stared out at the valley and sighed. It was such a beautiful sitght, even with the Reaper corpse sticking out of the forest but he was unsure of what to say.

Needless to say it didn't have to be said, as Cortez and Jack appeared out of nowhere and pulled him off the boulder.

"What the hell is the matter with you two?" Shouted the arms master as he was put into a choke hold by Jack and Cortez sat on his chest.

"Say it!"

"Fuck you, Esteban!"

"Say it, James because I'm tired of hearing you whine about it!"

"I said no! This is stupid you're acting like a couple of kids!"

The pilot took a swig of wine and shrugged. "And I lost my eye dropping you into, London! So you're gonna open that meat head mouth of yours and admit it you son of a bitch!"

James broke his foot free of Jack's leg and kicked his best friend off of him and rolled onto his stomach. Even with one arm he was able to pick Jack up and attempt to shake her off like a dog with a bad case of fleas.

"Get off of me you psycho bitch!"

"NEVER!" Jack raised her empty wine bottle like a sword swinging one armed like a pirate on a mast.

Garrus couldn't help but laugh as Urz barked and snapped at James heels forcing him to stay near the ship as he tried to get Jack off his back. Cortez pulled himself up off the ground and began a school yard chant that Garrus had become familiar with in his studies of human society.

He couldn't believe he was seeing it from adults, but then again they were drunk and he'd done stupider things than singing, "Sparks and Vega sitting in a tree."

"F.U.C.K.I.N.G!"

The only thing that was disturbing about the situation was Esteban was the one doing the spelling.

After several more minutes of stumbling around, James finally lost his balance and went tumbling to the ground like a fresh cut tree. Jack did a weird mid-air pirrouette as he fell and just missed landing on her feet and fell on her tailbone cursing loudly while James fell on his back.

Rolling up to him, Garrus shook his head at the sight. "You're all insane, you know that?"

James raised his middle finger at Garrus and laid against the cool grass. "Yeah, well we're all damaged, Scars."

Shrugging, Garrus tilted his head at the shuttle. "Cortez!"

"Yeah, Garrus!"

"Set it to auto-pilot, we need to be getting back." He took a moment and sniffed his clothes. "Chakwas is going to kill me. Jack? You doing okay over there?"

The biotic raised her spare hand. "Captain Jack never needs help!"

Garrus shook his head while James sat up. "She's gone isn't she, Vega?"

"What was your first clue?"

After loading Jack into his lap, Garrus rolled both of them onto the shuttle and James initiated the auto-pilot while Garrus unloaded Jack onto a bench where she and Cortez continued to share the wine together. Rolling back into the pilots scene he watched James flick the lid of his bottle absent mindedly.

"They got under your skin didn't they?"

"What's it to you, Vakarian?"

Garrus simply shrugged and looked out the window as the village turned base came into sight. "It's none of my business, unless you do something to make it my business."  
He heard a loud exhale as James tapped bottle even faster. "And who made you in my boss, Wheels?"

The shuttle landed with a small thud as the two stared at each other.

"I never said, I was your boss Vega. I"ve never tried to be anyone's boss."

"But you didn't stop yourself from immediately filling in now did you?"

He heard the moans of Jack and Steve as they tossed in their sleep. Taking a deep breath, Garrus tried to remain calm. "Where the hell is this coming from all of a sudden? Are you mad because I've been out working my ass off helping people for almost three months while you lay in a hospital bed?"

James drained the rest of his water and swished it around in his mouth before swallowing. "That's low, Scars."

"But the truth."

Tossing the bottle on the floor, James grumbled so low that only Garrus could make out the words, "….my planet…."

Rolling up to the human he gave him a sharp kick in the shin making James stand up and shout loudly earning a, "SHUT UP!" from the two drunkards in the back.

James stood up followed by Garrus, whose knees gave a small quiver thanks to the lack of walking and his brain injury. They stared each other down for a moment before James left and kicked Esteban's seat and helped his friend off the bench followed by Jack and left Garrus alone in the shuttle.

He tried to leave but his legs barely let him wander more than a few feet before having to grab onto a handrail. Swearing that he would kill Chakwas for her medical expertise, Garrus made his way back to the chair and rolled himself out of shuttle and nearly into Joker.

"Hey, Ironside! What the hell happened with James and those guys?"

Garrus adjusted the rilfe on the back of the chair and shook his head. "Nothing of consequence. How're the legs?"

Joker shrugged. "Looks like I'm going to need some surgery since the implants Cerberus put in have gone to hell. What do you think?"

"Didn't you use crutches when we first met?"

Joker chuckled and slung the rifle over his shoulder for the turian. "Yeah but I'm allowed to at least get out of my chair."

Garrus fought back the urge to punch him. "Yeah well, I'm about to have a talk with Chakwas."

"Catscan didn't go well?"

He shook his head, "I'm hoping to find out today if I can get out of this damn chair. I'm tired of rolling every time someone ends up accidentally hitting me."

"Well at least you can put on the brakes if someone starts pushing you toward a cliff."

Garrus glared up at him, "Try that and you'll be needing more than a set of crutches to move around."

The clicked his tongue. "Good, that means bed rest which means I can get those pillows and gel-packs Mordin told me about." A perverse grin spread across his face. "Seems EDI found a body that comes with a few, perks if you get my drift."

"That's great Joker. I wonder if The Illusive Man took it for a spin before having Eva transferred into the body she used to bash Kaidan's head in."

All of the joy left Joker's being at te mention of The Illusive Man and what happened on Mars. "I liked it when you were using that stick in your ass to beat off the Reapers."

Garrus chuckled at the look of disgust on the pilot's face. "Relax, Joker I'm sure EDI took the necessary precautions."

"What necessary precautions?"

It was who spoke this time. She was finishing showing Solana her x-rays. The look on his sister's face wasn't doing him any favors. They remained quiet while Chakwas helped Solana reattach her brace before the girl left after giving her brother a gentle nudge with her forehead.

When she left, Joker followed suit and left Garrus alone with the doctor. He felt nervous for the first time in a long while. From what they'd told him, the blow to his head should have crushed his neck and killed him, but it had instead caused major swelling to his brain, which was the reason for his wheelchair. They weren't certain to the extent of damage to his brain. But today he'd find out.  
Either way, the fact that he'd saved some people would be worth it.

"So, what's the news?"

"You know I'm not allowed to discuss the extent of your sister's injuries Garrus without her permission."

"I meant about my brain."

"Well there's no repairing that I'm afraid."

The both shared a good chuckle at the joke while she pulled out another set of scans. There were three and she took a few moments to make sure they were in the right order before placing them up and calling him over. He rolled forward and took a look at the left and then at the right he noticed a bit more red on the right which didn't sit well with him.

"Doctor Chakwas, I may be good at a lot of things. But reading a brain scan isn't one of them though I can guess the news isn't all that great."

She gave him a flick on the neck. "Better than what we thought, you should count yourself lucky. The amount of force that hit you should have killed you."

"So I've been told."

She flicked him again and tutted and pointed at the first. "This was the physical condition of your brain when you first joined the Normandy. Fairly normal, if a little wear and tear from the occasional drunken escapade among other things but nothing all that serious."

He nodded and pointed at the second, "And I take it that's the one from when I got shot in the face."

She nodded again and pointed at some slightly larger red spots. "You got lucky with that one thanks to Shepard's tampering with that ship."

He moved his eyes away from the middle one and looked at what was there now, the red spots were slightly larger. "And this one is from the concrete?"

She crossed her arms, a heavy sigh escaping from her mouth. "Among other things, yes. Those shots you took to the head when you were in combat and other things added to it, but this one…this one is by far the worse Garrus."

Removing the first two from the screen, she took a moment to carefully put another three scans up and pointed at them. "Your neck before," pointed at the left. It looked perfectly normal, the next looked compacted, and the third was looked far less damaged but still not as healthy looking at the first. "The middle is from when we got you onto the table and the third was taken the day before I woke you up. We had to keep your neck locked in place to make sure it healed properly with the implants but with the damage to your brain and neck…"

Her voice trailed off and he looked at her. "So am I stuck in this thing?"

Chakwas shook her head. "No, you can still walk, run, and shoot. But thanks to what happened to your neck you'll need periodic draining of spinal fluids to keep the side effects from getting worse. But you may also end up having problems with your vision, migraines, and the occasional issue with your fine motor controls and pain in your neck. If that happens you stay out of direct fire and give directions."

Garrus stared at the screen for a moment. He couldn't believe it. He'd taken out Reapers, mercs, geth, and even took a missile almost directly to the face. But now, now he was forced to sit back all because some stupid mechs hadn't paid attention to what they were doing.

He was thankful at that moment for Joker taking his rifle away from him.

"Will you be all right, Garrus?"

He looked at her and saw her holding out some tissue for him he thanked her and dabbed at the blood that was coming from the side of his mouth and nodded. "I think so, yeah. But, that doesn't answer when I can get out of this damn chair."  
She chuckled and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "We'll get started on getting those legs back to working condition right now if you'd like."

A couple of days later, Garrus was in the back of the Kodiak. Chair free, though his legs were screaming at him due to their sudden use. In the shuttle sat Traynor, Jack, Kaidan, Liara, EDI, James, Aethyta who they had found only a week ago with a small band of asari commandos, and several others. They wished there was more but they would be leaving in two days and this was something that needed to be done.

Hackett had called them back into action and James, his arm now healed would be joining them. They sat in silence, no one prepared to do this but it had to happen. It'd been almost five months with no clear sign and they'd all agreed to do it. They'd sent out several encrypted messages to a few select people to join them and they weren't sure how to proceed but they would.

After an hour's flight they came to a stop at the location Garrus had read of. The area was still as it was described without a single Reaper in sight. The forests were replaced by several fields of tall grass waving in the distance. When they landed they found a few other shuttles waiting for them with people standing around waiting for them.

When they landed, Garrus grabbed his crutch and let the others out before leaving. He was surprised to see Major Kirrahe among them and several others, including Aria. Tali was there as well with Admiral Xen. Her artificial leg a silver beacon among her normally black clothes. But that wasn't the biggest thing about her everyone noticed.

While Xen chose to remain in her suit, hidden behind the mask. Tali had removed her helmet for the occasion. While her face was hidden, the were all stunned to see her silvery hair and eyes and the hint of cybernetics in her purplish skin. Garrus was certain he even saw a few ridges around her eyes, but with the veil she was wearing it was difficult to tell. She remained standing next to Xen while everyone greeted her. They noticed she saved James for last and gave him a somewhat longer hug than the others.

CT was there as well hiding in the background in her Alliance formals. Her face was kept locked on the ground, but for the first time Garrus could finally see just how old she really was. He wanted to speak with her, but Hackett took her aside and he turned to deal with their friends.

When his greetings were done, Wrex was there as well with a large box next to him. It was disquieting to see so many yet remember the faces that were gone. Jacob, Miranda, Javik, Ashley, several friends dead and gone but in the box were memories of them. Everyone had contributed something to it. A photo, an unreturned item or keepsake. But today they added in the final keepsake before it was put into the ground.

Next to the box was a hole, and in that hole was to go the box, but not without another memento.

No one said anything as he limped forward. The crutch in the hands of Kaidan as he approached the container. He stopped in front of it and removed them from his neck. He stared at them momentarily and kissed them before gently placing them next to a battered copy of "The Poetical Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson."

After giving them a lingering stroke he shut the container and with a hiss it sealed itself. With the help of Wrex, Kaidan, and Jack, they lowered the container into the ground. With the help of Aethyta they covered the hole and planted a tree in the fresh tilled Earth.

All that was heard were the gentle sobs of the living while those that weren't present cast their light on them from the clear skies above.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10! Yeah last one ended on a bit of a downer but I think something like that was needed. A way to show hat people are still hurting from the losses but are willing to move on. Not forget them, but know that they aren't doing any of their loved ones a favor. There were little hints in the story for future scenario's. Hope some of you got them!

Also guys...Thanks. For those of you who have been reading this story as I post these. Just thank you for at least I hate to use the word accept, but embracing Leela. If you didn't get it from chapter 7 I hope you do so now. But well, just thank you. It means a lot to me that people, despite the fact that she's only shown up in the metaphysical sense, has been embraced by you guys. It is truly an awesome thing to see.

Chapter 10

"Run!"

They were once again in the middle of a firefight. It was the third one that week and their tenth in the past month and a half. And it was getting old real quick. Garrus was sitting in his perch, unloading round after round into enemies. They were still under orders to use rubber or concussive rounds to keep casualties limited. But with the way things were going, both sides would begin taking losses. And based upon how his team was reacting, Garrus was worried for the other side.

Unloading the heat sink, he popped a fresh clip in and set off three shots in rapid succession. Knocking down two of their attackers as the rest of the team slid behind cover.

"SCOPED AND DROPPED! Jack and Liara take the right to the windows. Take cover and draw as much fire as you can. Kaidan and James you go around the left to the pillar! I'll cover your middle! And try to take the heat off of you!"

He received confirmation on his recommendation and reinserted another clip and followed the girls for a moment. Jack and Liara were ducking behind cover and letting out rounds as often as they could. The enemy was onto their tactics though. From the way it was set up, it had been deliberate. A way to bottleneck anyone that came into their territory and take them for all they were worth. But Garrus and the others were saved by the fact that

They had moved to a quadrant of a new Citadel arm. This time into an industrial plaza. It stank, but was nowhere near as bad as when they'd arrived on the first arm. These people had had months to dig in, and seemed much better armed.

"James! How are we doing on reaching that pillar?"

The human grunted as his shields absorbed a small bevy of bullets. "We're going to need another minute! The major is disarming a few charges and I'm trying to keep some mechs from crossing the bridge and setting them off!"

"Shit." He whispered as he let out a concussive round that sent a batarian into the wall. "Liara do you have any flash bangs left?"

"That's a negative, Garrus! Jack anything left in your belt?

"Fuck no! I used them all in the last fight we got in! And we're two days a way from the base unless we call for a shuttle!"

Reloading a clip yet again,, this time with real rounds. Garrus looked in his artillery case and found a proximity mine. Loading it into the tip of his gun, Garrus took aim and fired it. As it sailed across the causeway he let loose a round and watched it explode several feet above their enemy. Most dropped their guns and screamed in pain as James and Kaidan made their way into the building while Jack and Liara took defensive positions on the ground.

Garrus reloaded rubber rounds and let the final two fly sending the others to the ground clutching their heads while Kaidan and James called for Liara and Jack to come up.

Keeping his rifle trained on the scene he asked. "What's going on you guys?"

He heard several people shouting followed by someone getting hit. People screamed but it was Kaidan he heard speak. "Everything is taken care of here Garrus, how is it on your end?"

Taking his eyes out of the scope, Garrus surveyed his surroundings like a hawk looking for its prey. "So far, so good Kaidan. Any of them speak up yet?"

He heard Liara's voice in his ear next. "We are not here to fight you! We are here on the orders of the…" Liara let out a grunt before growling in her Shadow Broker voice, "Do that again and I will sever your head from your shoulders!"

"With what? You asari have lost your biotics."

He heard a scuffle and Jack come on. "I've got a knife and your arms and are tied to your legs. That give you enough reason to talk."

There was silence for a moment. Garrus thought Jack had put his knife into the woman until she spoke. "What is it you want? We barely have any food for you to steal and this little scuffle cost us a good amount of our ammo and half our remaining mechs."

"We aren't here to rob you. As we said we were sent by the remains of the Council and Alliance military to help evacuate you to safer locations. We're working with other people to help rebuild the Citadel while the quarian fleet is working to get the relays working again." It was Kaidan this who spoke this time.

"The relays are broken? How did that happen?"

"From what we figured the Citadel released a large amount of dark energy that caused the relays to shut down thanks to a lack of power. It's also messing with the powers of all biotics."

"Not bad James, you have been paying attention."

"Screw you, Scars."

Despite the fact that it had been a couple of weeks since Earth, James and Garrus hadn't discussed what nearly transpired against them, but they were civil and it worked at the moment.

"Put the dicks away boys. We need to get these idiots inside. There kids in this shithole you've been hiding in?"

"No."

"Lying to us would be most unwise at this juncture, young lady."

It was a turian this time. "We aren't lying, blue. We've been here since the Citadel started moving. We thought the Keepers were rounding people up for processing."

That caught Garrus's attention. "Did he just say, Keepers?"

"That's right, Scars. But I thought the Keepers were made by the Reapers? Shouldn't they have died along with them?"

As much as he wanted to leave his nest he kept his eyes scanning the vicinity. "Your guess is as good as mine James. Ask him where they saw it."

James relayed the question and the turian replied. "About three days hike from here, you have to go in on foot due to the amount of collapsed buildings. We don't know if it's alone, but it looked like it was wandering around attempting to fix a few consoles in the hospital we saw it in."

"Liara I take it you're interested in this?"

"Of course Garrus," her voice was all smiles as she spoke. "Finding a Keeper may help us gain a better understanding of the security protocols. Though making sure it doesn't self destruct upon our investigating it is another matter."

"Well what about just finding the guy who did the research?"

"Easier said than done. The guy who did the research went into hiding while we were working for Cerberus."

"Wait, you're talking about that salarian Chorban? Garrus didn't you say that you were able to access some of the old C-Sec files awhile back"

Garrus took a moment before responding. "If I remember correctly I think I was able to access a couple of old arrest records. You're thinking I might find him in the system, Kaidan?"

"Doesn't hurt to check. Hell, we might even be to find out about a few hidden cache's of C-Sec weapons Shepard helped procure."

Garrus let out a sigh and packed his rifle away. "Not a bad plan, Kaidan. I'll radio for a pick up from Cortez along with a few supplies for them."

"Roger that, Garrus. I'll keep the rest of these guys under control for you until we Steve gets here."

Settling back into his spot, Garrus made the call. Steve said he'd be a couple of hours. "What exactly are you looking for me to load up? We haven't been having as much luck here as we were on the other arm."

"Just bring them a few days worth of food and ammo. I'll have Kaidan leave a beacon with them so you guys can find them if there's a problem. Also bring a medic. I had to let off a proximity mind mid flight and I want to make sure none of them have any injuries from that or our dummy rounds."  
"You got it, Garrus. See you in a few."

Shutting off the call, Garrus leaned back and noticed his vision begin to blur. "Shit." Was all he could muster as he closed his eyes. He kept them closed and waited calmly. When he finally opened them again it was back to normal. He'd have to make a call to Chakwas and report it. He always did and when made it back to the base he would end up having to take a couple days bed rest after they drained the fluids.

He'd barely just started the treatments, but going every two weeks was beginning to wear on his patience. Still, if it kept him in the fight he would deal with any amount of discomfort. He counted off the amount of fights they'd been in. While few and far between, they had been fairly tough since they were under no kill orders. Sometimes he longed for the days when it was as simple as putting a bullet in the bad guy. But now, that line was almost non existent. You didn't know if you were killing a hostile or killing an innocent.

He'd taken a chance today with his little stunt and he got lucky. Rubbing his neck, he felt the scab from the last one and growled. But decided to rest his eyes for a moment.

"Hey, Scars. Esteban's here, said we gotta get going. He's gotta drop us off at the Crucible. "

"Damn it, why didn't you check on me sooner?"

"We did. Liara and Kaidan checked your vitals and from what they could find you were okay for a little bit. I've been checking on you every fifteen minutes to make sure you were still breathing."

Pushing himself to his feet, Garrus felt a rush of dizziness overtake him. He fell forward but was caught by James. Shrugging him off immediately, Garrus growled that he didn't need his help.

"Easy there big guy. Was just trying to help."

"Then don't bitch at me when I spend time trying to help make life easier for the people stranded here and on your planet."

James stepped back and raised his hands. "I wasn't trying to guilt you into that, but you're right, Scars. You're right." He stepped back and sighed. "I was mad, I've been mad for a long time about this whole shit storm. I couldn't help Earth until the end and when I could help them I ended up in the hospital letting others do the work for me. And you, you left your home planet to help ours. Your whole military did. But while we're here there's a chance millions more are dying and starving and we can't help them. We're as helpless as we were during the war."

Garrus rubbed his neck and scratched gently. "I told it to Shepard and I'll tell it to you. Turians are raised to believe if one person survives than the fight was worth it. Humans want to save everyone. It didn't happen, James and we can't help those who are stranded on the other side of the galaxy. All we can do is our best here and hope that we can get things working to the point where we can ease the suffering of those we can help."

The soldier stepped forward and stuck his hand out. "Under the bridge?"

Garrus shook it and picked up his rifle. "Yeah. Just make sure I don't make an ass out of myself in front of Jack. I got enough to worry about when we reach the Crucible without hearing her mock me."

He felt a hard slap on his back and laughed along with the arms master. "You can count on me, Scars."

The next morning they were on a shuttle heading toward what remained of the Crucible. Hackett and the others had flown it back toward the moon after depositing its pay load and the members of the Normandy crew were speechless at what they saw.

The Crucible was everything they were told and more. Several thousands of people from turians to humans. From Rachni to quarians. And even geth and salarians were still on board. All of them doing their best to crack to codes of the technology that stood before them. They waited near their docking bay, quiet and nervous. None of them had been called here and to now be standing in it after the war, they felt out of place.

None of them felt like they belonged on the Crucible other than Liara despite her claims that she would rather be working with them in helping the people that were stranded. But Garrus could see it in her eyes as she tried to catch conversations or sneak peeks at classified documents with her omni-tool. Much to the annoyance of the researchers that walked by them.

After an hour of waiting, their guide finally appeared with a small limp.

"Welcome to the Crucible. I'm sorry you all are being treated so rudely."

They all stepped forward and embraced Tali who laughed with each hug. "Yes the leg is fine. A bit squeaky but I've been giving it my own modifications." She tapped her heel and from her thigh a large knife appeared before disappearing with another tap of her heel. "I'm currently working on a spare that will hold tool kits and a spare pistol."

She was still wearing a veil similar to the scarf she wore on her helmet. She surveyed her friends, her eyes to only thing showing her smile, but they could see she was relieved to see them all despite the losses. "I've been told to escort you to the rooms in the barracks. Though Garrus, you are to follow me to the medical wing."

"I expected as much. You going to come, James?"

The human missed putting the potato chip he was attempting to eat in his mouth and it fell to the floor much to the amusement of their friends. He looked at Esteban and Jack who were covering their mouths and narrowed his eyes at them. They both stopped their laughs and Steve pulled up his omni-tool.

"I got you sleeping, James. And you talk in your sleep. A lot!"

It was the others turn to laugh and James put the chips back into his hip pouch and nodded. "Yeah, I'll join you. If it gets me a way from these dumbasses. You need some help, Sparks?"

"Not at the moment, but I'll enjoy the company after dropping this baby off at the medical bay."

"And you wonder why I ended up with Shepard."

"I still have my shotgun Garrus."

"And you still have no geth to fight."

The trip to the barracks was jovial, which annoyed many of the researches who yelled at them for quiet but that stopped once they saw the Normandy crew walking through the halls. And it made Jack laugh each time she apologized when the eyes of the researches widened at the sight of the crew.

After a ten minute walk they were dropped off at their rooms. Garrus barely had time to drop off his rifles and pack before being pulled out by his collar into the hallway with Tali and James. As they left, the heard a loud laugh as Traynor made her presence known. She'd been transferred to help the geth and Rachni to figure out how to expand the QEC network.

He didn't bother to look back as they made their way through the sterile halls. It was like a giant assembly plant where each room was somebody working on a new piece of technology, code breaking, or agricultural advancement. Garrus had seen some of these already put to work, in certain parts of the Citadel arms as well as on Earth. While they would take time to fine tune the processes, the successes so far were exemplary and had saved their lives more than a few times as well as help with repairing the landscapes of Earth.

As they walked by another room where a few geth, five of the estimated ten-thousand self reactivated ones, were conversing with engineers on drive core modifications, he found it strange that they had fought so hard to destroy the Reapers and yet their very survival may depend on the monstrosities that had set out to destroy them.

As they walked, Garrus found himself not saying much and watching Tali and James more than anything else. He didn't remember falling behind them, but truth was he'd invited James along for just this purpose. He couldn't help but smile when he saw James pull his hand away from Tali's when he caught sight of Garrus looking at them.

Finally they stopped in front of what was now officially the medical bay.

"So, will you two kids be okay without a grown up?"

James actually looked pale and Tali did her best to avert her gaze from Garrus. He just chuckled and gave her a knowing wink before entering.

It was filled to the brim with people from all over the Sol system. Some with minor injuries and others were in bed recovering from wounds similar to Tali's or worse. He stood to the side, watching as the doctors rushed between patients, administering meds and other people who were being brought from ships or parts of the Citadel and beginning emergency procedures. After so long, Garrus expected things to have settled down, instead they were slowly escalating.

Taking an extra seat, Garrus waited for a doctor. And as he did his head began to ache and his vision began to blur again. He wanted to take a pain killer but he couldn't. Not with him needing anesthesia at the start of his procedure. Instead he closed his eyes and rested his head against his knees.

"Are you okay, Mister?"

He looked up to see a little boy and girl standing in front of him. The boy human with olive skin and brown hair , the girl a young turian with black plates, green eyes and markings. They were holding hands, and based on his knowledge of humans he put the boy at about five and the girl at three. They were dressed in civilian attire and the girl had what humans called a teddy bear in her left arm while her other held her brothers hand.

He gave them a warm smile. "I'm fine, my head just hurts. What are you two doing here?"

The girl hid behind the boy and hid her face in his back. "We're here with our dad. He's been sick for awhile now."

That caught Garrus's attention. "What happened to him?"

The girl sniffled as her brother spoke. "He got us off world while Mom went to work with the turian military. Dad got sick due to an engine explosion when those aliens tried to take this ship, we don't know what happened to Mom." He pointed at a nearby bed where a deathly pale human man was hooked up to a series of tubes. "They said they were going to look for their families to take us in but we haven't heard from anyone."

The boys lip quivered and the girl clung to his shirt as she sniffled again. "Do you think he's going to die?"

Garrus reached out and put a hand on the girl's head. "I can't say, little one. But I can tell you that the doctors will do their very best to help him. "

The children looked at each other and then back at him they both spoke in unison, "You promise?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I promise. But you stay next to him and keep him strong. That's what he needs right now more than medicine."

The girl poked her head out from behind her brother. "Are you waiting for some one, Mister?"

Garrus gave her forehead a little poke and ran his finger along her markings. They were an emerald green along her black plates they made a crown like visage on her small head. "Yeah, I am. But tell you what. Why don't you call me, Garrus."

She gave him a shy smile. "I'm Ismene Schneider." She then pulled on her brother's shirt. "Use your manners."

The boy shook his head at her, but his eyes were warm as he looked at her and then at Garrus. "I'm Kevin Schneider. Who are you waiting for?"

Garrus leaned back and noticed an asari doctor eyeing him. "I'm waiting for a someone very special to me."

"Is it your mate?"

Kevin told her to hush but Garrus chuckled and nodded. "Yes, she's been gone for a long time."

"Was she like our mom? Was she military?"

Garrus nodded again and their eyes grew sad. "Don't feel sad kids. Things like this happen in war. "

"But if you're waiting, then what does that mean for us?"

He had no answer but still spoke. "It means that your mother is somewhere that she probably can't communicate with you. So keep your spirits up, and if you need help tell someone to contact me. My name is Garrus. Okay?" When they nodded he gave them both a pat on the head. "Now go back to your father."

The kids nodded and headed to their father's bedside. Halfway there, Ismene ran back to him, her teddy bear's head bouncing as she ran. When she stopped in front of him, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small fist and shook it at him. "Here. To make your head better."

Garrus put out his hand. She placed her tiny fist in his hands and opened her hand dropping a small object in it before returning to her brother and father. Garrus noticed it was a candy only found on Palaven. He slipped it in a pocket just as the doctor arrived.

"Are you, Garrus Vakarian?"

He nodded and the doctor waved at him. "We have a small room set up for you."

"I'd rather have a bed out here."

The doctor shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir but it's the orders of the higher ups that you get a private room."

He stood up with a small waver and the doctor took his arm. "Easy, Mister Vakarian."

Rubbing his eye, he allowed her to pull him toward the private room. Climbing into the bed he turned on his side and let the doctor do her work. After curling up a bit, he felt a small prick on his neck and the only inclination of her work was the pain slowly leaving his head.

"The Admiral and everyone will see you in two days. For now, just rest and get your strength back."

Pulling the blanket up over his form, Garrus closed his eyes.

As soon as he drifted he was back on a battlefield, it looked like Tuchanka. Javik was laying waste to enemies while Leela was fire biotics at them, raising them from the ground before sending bullets into their skulls while he planted a proximity mine a few yards a head before taking out a Brute with a shot in it's eyes. They took a moment to look at each other, her hair haggard and her visor blinking as it tried to maintain it's function but her face was all smiles despite the gore and dirt.

"Come on, Garrus! Don't tell me you're out of the game already."

He kept his eyes on her and let out three more shots which dropped another Brute with ease. "I'm just getting started."

He woke up with a groan and sat up. His mouth dry and he poured some water into the glass. Some of it spilt from his mouth and he wiped his chin as he laid back down. His neck was sore as it always was after the draining. But at least he could see and his head was clear for the first time in a long while.

Finally the day came and he was sitting with the others in a room. Food on the table and plenty of drink. He noticed himself and Liara were the only two not to really touch the food. James and the others however inhaled it like it was their last meal.

When the doors opened, the entire crew stood up before being told to sit with the simple wave of a hand.

Hackett walked past them, his usual scowl on his face along with Sparatus, the newly recovered Tevos, and Esheel.

"I hear that you have all uncovered the possible location of a Keeper?"

It was Hackett who spoke while the councilors watched the group quietly.

"That's correct. According to the information and footage we received from some people we found on the second arm."

"What kind of footage?"

"Some kids had some mechs go snooping through a broken down hospital." Jack said over a mouth full of food. "Seems the mechs caught sight of the Keeper before the kids had them turn around and leave."

Tevos and Esheel looked at her with mild disgust while Hackett and Sparatus listened in quiet contemplation.

"We've helped them in exchange for the information. They're good kids. Young, a bit angry, but they'll prove useful in the end." Liara transmitted the video to the screen and they turned around. The quality was lackluster. Loki mechs weren't known for their high caliber optics, and they could tell that it had been retrofitted with a night vision lens.

The Normandy crew watched quietly as the admiral and councilors stepped back to get a better shot of the footage. They could see the Tevos and Esheel looking doubtful but Hackett and Sparatus was analyzing each movement like a trained hunter.

Finally the footage they needed was shown and Tevos's jaw nearly hit the floor and Esheel was looking nauseous. Sparatus had mild amazement on his face while Hackett had the slightest hint of a smile on his lips.

"So, it is true. Do we know of its whereabouts or movements?

"That's a negative, Councilor Tevos." Kaidan paused the film and sighed. "We only know of it appearing in the hospital. No probes were sent in, but we thought that your hackers may have found some information on the tunnels beneath the hospital."

Hackett rolled his shoulders. "Unfortunately our efforts have bared little fruit. The Reapers hid their secrets too well."

"Well I wouldn't say that Admiral."

A shimmer of light came from the corner. The eyes of the Normandy crew, all save for James shone at the sight of the master thief.

She took a bit of food from the table and swallowed loudly before sitting down and putting her feet up on the table.

"Ms. Goto, glad to see you've come back to us."

Kasumi smiled and pulled up her own omni-tool. The video footage of the Keeper disappeared and a map of interconnected tubes lit up the screen.

"Garrus, word got back to me about you looking for the works of some scientist named Chorban. I did a little snooping and found his files. Didn't take long and he was a sly little bastard. He was able to track the movements of the Keepers and even a few access codes."

Liara and the others "This will take months to navigate."

Hackett chuckled and looked at them all. "Major Alenko, Miss Naught, you will stay with me. As for the rest of you. I want you to begin scouring those tunnels. Ten day excursions and reports. If that is all right with the rest of you."

Tevos nodded. "Of course. I was willing to offer my support upon confirmation of the footage." She then turned to Hackett. "Do not think that just because we have lost our seat of power we are going to let you run the show, Hackett." There was hint of laughter in her voice that sent shivers down the spines of the Normandy crew.

With the meeting adjourned, the Normandy crew left save for Garrus who was asked to stay behind by Hackett.

"How are you holding up?"

Garrus scratched his chin and stared at the map Kasumi left up. His eyes flicked across it looking for the best routes as he spoke. "I've been better. The shakes and headaches don't help, but I'm alive. What do you need Jack and Kaidan for?"

Hackett chuckled and lit a cigarette. "Some researchers need a few powerful biotics to try out new prototype implants on. And I thought those two wouldn't mind the possibility of being back to one hundred percent."

Garrus pointed at the screen and the admiral nodded. The screen flickered momentarily and his omni-tool beeped when it was saved. "How long do we have"

"I'm giving you a week. And…"

"And she's right behind me isn't she?"

"Well you're no fun." CT appeared and saluted Hackett before turning to Garrus. "I'll get ahold of the necessary mechs and supplies while you formulate a plan."

"Thank you, CT."

She laughed quietly. "You are quite welcome, Garrus. I'll be sure to keep the strawberry shampoo on hand."

When she was gone he felt another headache coming on, this time out of sheer annoyance. "Spirits help me."

Hackett only gave him a reaffirming pat on the back before exiting the room. Outside, Garrus could hear him and CT laughing loudly.


	11. Chapter 11

So Chapter 11..yeah..I'm kind of…I dunno hitting a bit of a snag. Let's see what I can do.

Chapter 11

"Well this is certainly unexpected."

Garrus couldn't help but nod in agreement. James remained dumbfounded and Tali, well Tali was speechless which was saying something. They had been wandering through the tunnels for about four days and decided to head back if they hadn't found anything the following day. They were one of several teams to make their way into the tunnels. It had taken them up until three o'clock in the morning for them to finally set up a course of action involving the tunnels.

The tunnels were massive. Easily as wide as the original width of the SR1 dotted with several entrances to the wards and other areas of the Citadel. They'd expected them to be smaller but after CT accidentally set off a chute beneath them that was the size of a manhole cover they understood the necessity for the size. These were used as much for the transportation of goods and disposal of garbage as much as they were a means of passage.

After that little heart attack they'd remained cautiously to one side, marking their path as they went so they could head back to their point of entry. The doors were to only be used in case of emergency, but they had popped into a few and found things and people in conditions that would forever haunt them.

Urz remained at the forefront of the group as they traveled, sniffing happily away in hopes of finding an odd scent. They were lucky there was light down in the tunnels. An ominous red light, but a light none the less. Their helmets were on constantly in case of toxic chemicals or other unsavory scents.

So far they had only reason to use one code and that was to gain entry. But after a two day hike they'd opened their first door to find a small nest of Keepers. Working on what appeared to be a large drive core.

"What the hell is it for?"

James' body jerked slightly but his brain fought the instinct and he just continued to watch.

"Tali, do you think you and Kasumi can access one of the consoles."

The two women looked at one another while James and CT began examining the Keepers. Garrus sent Urz in with Tali and Kasumi in case things got out of hand and waited near the entrance. There had to at least be a hundred Keepers in the room. None of them doing anything but working on the drive core. It was massive in size. Easily five times the size of the one in the SR2.

Using his omni-tool he activated the recording function on his visor. The HUD blinked momentarily and he began scanning the activities of the former Reaper servants. From what Chorban had said they may have been genetically engineered or the first species to be controlled by Sovereign and the others of his kind and with the Reapers destruction their survival was just as mysterious as everything else.

Walking clockwise he watched them. One Keeper would be adjusting something. The other cutting a length of wire. One would be working a console. Many with the same, and yet incredibly individual tasks working seamlessly together amidst the gentle glow and hum of the drive core.

The Keepers acted as they always did, working in blissful apathy of the people around them so long as their work was remained unmolested. Tali and Kasumi each found a console to take care of while CT and James took care of their own work snapping pictures of the work the Keepers were doing and Garrus' eye didn't miss a single moment until Tali waved him over.

Shuffling through the crowd of insectoids, they were a lot heavier than they looked, he approached the engineer whose hand was shaking a bit.

"Tali, are you all right?"

She nodded as she pointed at the screen. "This data. It's incredible Garrus." He glanced over her shoulder at the screen. While he could read the words, his brain was unable to process the information and he said as much. Chuckling she said, "This drive core is one of several that are part of a network that powers the entire arm. Look." She pulled up a screen and showed several large areas like the one they were in blinking steadily, he could tell that they wouldn't be the only group to locate such a place. They hadn't ran into the other groups and radio silence was to be maintained unless there was an emergency.

"So, it helps us stay alive. That's good."

Snorting, Tali pulled up the information she had on her omni-tool and compared it to the file. "This is the core that we are looking at, and this is the core Xen had me working on when I was cleared for duty."

Garrus scanned them momentarily. "They're the same?"

"That's right. This one is the same as a drive core from a Destroyer class Reaper."

"Which means, what Tali?"

She waved her finger. "It means that this terminal might have control codes for the drive cores that we can use in the experimental ships that will be launching in the next few months."

"I don't like it, Sparks."

Everyone's attention turned to James who was shoving away a Keeper that was trying to take his gun away. "I'm not sure using this tech is a smart idea. What if those cores have Reaper memories stored in them."

Tali tapped the front of her mask. "That is a possibility. We aren't fully aware of the capabilities Reaper's drive cores and if there was a black box program installed…." Her voice drifted off as she began muttering to her self. "But the….and the amount of power divided by…the risk is…" She tapped the glass on her helmet furiously. "This information is too valuable to pass up." She sighed and activated her omni-tool and saved the data.

James gave a growl from his spot in the sea of green.

"Relax James. We'll talk with everyone before going forward with this. I don't think anyone wants to do anything stupid right now."

He kicked his way through the Keepers toward Tali and the others grunting as he began speaking. "Well I'm not getting on any ship with one of those drive cores. I can handle the geth. But a Reaper coming back to life? I'm gonna grab the nearest dreadnaught and ram it into the fucker the first chance I get."

"Do you have so little faith in the engineers working on this project?"

He rubbed his nose before shaking his head. "I trust you, I don't trust that." He pointed at the core.

"But all our technology is based off the origins of that." Tali waved her hand in a mock grandiose gesture. James did not look amused.

"Yeah well the only thing I can say about our cores is that we knew where they were coming from and what was in them. I'd just as soon spend twenty years making one from scratch."

He stomped off to the entrance and past Kasumi whose hands were still flying over her keyboard.

Tali shook her head when he was out of ear shot. "It's such a shame he thinks so little of himself."

Garrus watched as Urz began snapping at a Keeper that was trying to pin him down and clip his nails. "Have you told him that"

"He doesn't listen. He still thinks of himself as just a grunt. I thought Shepard had knocked some sense into his head. He even got the tattoo."

"Tattoo?"

Tali's body instantly locked up. "Shepard told me about it one night over drinks."

She was a horrible liar but he let it slide and instead turned to Kasumi. "You find anything interesting over there?"

The thief glanced up from her keyboard and nodded. "Plenty of old security files showing corrupt politicians, not that those are of any value. Medical records, those could come in handy. C-Sec files, ohhh the location of several armories. I think I'll keep that for my private use." Garrus gave a loud cough. "Fine," She groaned loudly, I'll forward an edited copy to Hackett.: She turned gave him a glare. "You think a thief would be able to make a living in a society based on a barter system?"

"Is there anything else?"

She paused for a minute and stared at the screen. "This seems to be some video footage but I can't hack it. None of the codes I have match it and the algorithms are nothing like I've ever seen. It seems to be on a completely different security level. Even more difficult to crack than what Liara discovered on Thessia. And even those have given me problems in the past."

"So you can't break it?"

The thief shook her head as the keyboard shut down. "Sorry, Garrus. I'm going to need to head back topside and make use of the computers on the Crucible to deal with this."

"And I need to do the same with this core data." James let out a loud grunt near the door. "Oh shut up."

"Will you shut up for five seconds and listen!"

They heard only the hum of the core until it hit their ears. It sounded to the best of their knowledge like skittering. Pushing their way through the Keepers, Garrus felt like the were much more difficult to move than earlier. They continued with their work but they refused to move and the sound that was once like skittering began to sound more like a rushing wave.

"What the hell is going on?"

It was CT who had decided to use her rifle like a golf club and knock a couple reapers out of her path. "What did you guys do?"

Looking at Kasumi's monitor he saw a flashing red light and cursed. "It's a security protocol! They think we're hostile! Tali!"

"I'm fine Garrus. CT climb on their backs."

Following the recommendation, the human followed the quarians lead and after a couple of attempts was able to gain enough footing. "Now what!"

"Walk on them!"

It was difficult but they followed Tali's lead and made their way out of the sea of . The women had a much easier time, but Garrus was a little more hesitant. Still, despite the fear of hitting his head he moved forward one step at a time as he watched the others at the entrance begin firing off rounds. The sound was growing louder and he couldn't make out the words of his comrades, and finally he stepped off the last Keeper and joined them.

"By the spirits."

His voice was lost even to him as he gazed out into an ocean of Keepers coming at him. He raised his hands and flashed several symbols. The Normandy crew all responded while CT looked confused. She waved at him and shrugged but Garrus just loaded a mine into his rifle and set it on the ground fifty meters ahead at the base of the tunnel.. Tali sent out a combat drone which followed the trajectory of Garrus' mine, while James aimed his rifle.

Garrus raised his hand and waited, Tali's drone began to take out Keepers individually. If they made a noise they couldn't hear it. They fell one by one as it remained hovering over the mine and when they arrived at the mine James let loose a Carnage shot just as the drone set of the mine creating a large explosion that knocked a huge hole in the Keepers ranks.

They took off toward the hole, it was closing fast with the amount of Keepers they were contending with but Garrus raised his hand and switched to his Vindicator and let the rounds fly. Garrus kept CT close to him as he flashed hand signs to the squad. Kasumi's Locust was finding it's marks and her Overloads were definitely knocking out Keepers. Tali's drones were providing them support cover and when they failed their explosions allowed for them to progress, albeit slowly through the ranks. James' size and grenades were doing their job as was expected of him. Garrus was dropping Keepers left and right, ordering them to advance and stop when needed. He could see what their salvation ahead. It was about two hundred meters ahead and they were going to run out of ammunition quickly. But they'd been through worse.

Sending out another mine, Garrus waved his hand and James let a grenade fly. It was a little of the mark and when it exploded the mine did not follow suit.

"Shit!" Garrus sent out an Overload but it didn't help. The mine was damaged and the Keepers soon closed the gap. Checking his gun, he cursed loudly when he saw he was half way through his current clip and only had one remaining.

"How are you on ammunition?" He signed above his head. Kasumi signed she was left with only two clips. James signed he was onto his shotgun and running low. The same went with Tali except she was on her pistol. Deciding it was their only chance. He pulled out a small cylinder.

CT saw this and grabbed his hand and shook her head. He shrugged and waved a hand signaling them to fall in behind him. They knew what was coming and ducking behind a bit of rubble Garrus flipped the cap and hit the button. They were rocked forward as several explosions rocked the hallway. Smoke filled their visors and the explosions rang their ears. They heard no sounds save for the explosions.

Motioning to the corridor they ran, their feet barely touching the floor as they fired at any Keeper that was attempting to block their path. The explosions had done their job and the large brunt of the Keeper horde was busy trying to push their way into through the piles of their dead brethren.

He pointed at the door and the squad ran past him. Kasumi and James helping Garrus keep covering fire while CT helped Tali to the tunnel near them. When he heard the faint sound of CT's voice Garrus and the others retreated up into the passage way. Once in, locked it behind them and they ran up. They didn't know where they were going, but it was all they could do. Finally able to hear, he noticed the heavy breathing of his crew as they ran until finally they came to a lift.

Stepping back he allowed Kasumi and Tali to hack into it and they boarded it. They remained silent throughout the trip until the doors opened into a large garden. And then Garrus felt something propel him several feet forward and send him tumbling to the floor. He was barely able to tuck in and avoid hitting his head but felt a foot in his stomach mere seconds later.

"YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THOSE EXPLOSIVES!"

Hefting himself off the ground, Garrus saw James holding CT in a half-nelson. Shaking his head clear he told Kasumi and Tali to stay where they were while Urz took a defensive position in front of him, growling loudly as the woman screamed at him.

"YOU COULD HAVE COLLAPSED THE TUNNEL ON US!"

Dusting off the front of his armor, Garrus nodded at James who let the woman go. She was breathing loudly. Her body was shaking in anger her knees jerking as she fought the urge to attack him again. "We have a job to do unles you've forgotten that?"

"I haven't forgotten that, but I did what needed to be done. I set up a counter measure when I thought it was necessary and we came out alive so I suggest you thank me rather than complain about my saving your life. Unless you want me to send you back down that lift and break its motor so you have no choice but to deal with the Keepers."

He could see CT contemplating the severity of his threat. When she finally nodded she said, "Fine. But I'll be taking those files."

Kasumi chuckled and shook her head. "I'll mail it to Hackett and the others on my own time. You do not give me orders." She pointed at Urz. "I'd soon trust him with these files with than you."

CT looked at James who shook his head. "I know you're some hotshot with Hackett. But I don't know a damn thing about you or your service record so don't look at me to defend you."

She gave a hopeful look at Tali, but received a shaking head in response. "Fine. Do what you want. I'm heading back."

"How are you going to do that?" Garrus extended his arms and smirked. "We don't know where we're at so how are you going to head back?"

"Do you have any more of those explosives you stole from my stocks?"

"Why so you can collapse the roof down around us?"

The woman scoffed, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips. "Fair enough. Urz?"

The varren looked at her and bared his teeth.

"Think you can help me find out a way the Keepers get in here without the tunnels."

Urz shrunk back with his teeth bared, but when she pulled out a chunk of meat, Urz immediately relaxed and ran toward her.

"Well his loyalties are about as two sided as a politician."

Garrus snorted and stared after her while Kasumi came up to him and ran a hand along the back of his neck. He growled loudly and she stepped back hands raised. "Relax I was just going to check your implant."

"Don't bother. You'd know if there was a problem."

"Fair enough." She followed his gaze and rubbed her chin fondly as she sang. "OH JAAAAAMES."

Broken from a conversation with Tali. The marine turned to the master thief. "What is it, Locks?"

"Locks?"

Garrus grinned. "Your new nickname."

She stared at the turian for a moment. "I don't like it."

"Well you're stuck with it."

Groaning she stuck her hand out at the lieutenant. "Give it."

"Give what?"

He looked over his shoulder at CT who was following Urz into a small hole in the wall.

"Don't play coy with me, little boy. I know when somebody takes something that isn't their's now hand it over."

He felt Tali punch him and point at her friend. "Give it to her."

James chewed his lip and growled before stomping toward her, his hand digging into an ammo pouch and shoving something into Kasumi's hand. "Here."

"Not a bad job, little boy. But the truth is, she's too good for you to get the one up on." She examined the item James gave her. A small silvery disk. "And here I thought she'd make it difficult."

"What is it?"

Kasumi winked and hit a button. Immediately a series of documents popped up. "Let's see, military records, rather impressive was initially scoped out for black ops, but could not go due to personal issues. High level IQ, exemplary skills in tactical theories. No wonder they kept her hidden and working logistics."

Garrus's eyes widened at that last word. "By the spirits he really did do this."

"Who did what?" Asked Tali and James in unison.

"Should I Garrus?"

He looked at the hole where they had yet to return from and nodded.

Kasumi scanned the files and pulled up a picture of CT sitting with her arms and legs wrapped around a sixteen year old with the same soft features, long red hair, and eyes as their recently excused squad mate. Their faces beaming at the camera that had taken the picture.

"Lieutenant Vega and Admiral Zorah. I give you Rear-Admiral Hannah Elizabeth Shepard."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11.…probably not the strongest chapter but for some reason with the way I was going it felt right to do it the way I did. As for this chapter…mostly a plot device chapter in a way. A little muddled but again I had fun writing it.

By the way, Mark = Mercutio. Shepard's dead father. Just a heads up.

Chapter 12

They were back on Earth. Orders from above and the crew wasn't enjoying it. This time they'd been sent to a desert in southwest corner of a country what was once called, The United States. He'd read about it some, apparently CT was from this part of the planet and Garrus couldn't help but think of Thane as they trudged along in the Mako. James was in the drivers seat having the time of his life while Kasumi bounced nervously in her chair. Liara and Tali however looked positively ecstatic at the recklessness of James' driving. Garrus' neck on the other hand had other opinions.

It had been a month since their mission into the tunnels. The information was vital enough that they had been relieved of any secondary journeys and Hackett had them doing reconnaissance and other side jobs for him. Though any following team was given strict orders on how to handle the Keepers after their report and the team was thankful that they didn't have to make a repeat journey.

They had spent the better part of three days hiking through ruins before finding a place where they could call for evac safely. When they had found a way out, Kasumi waited until their first nights rest to return the disk to its owner. Nobody knew what to say, James was all for confronting her, the same went for Garrus. But Tali and Kasumi were able to keep them calm. And CT, well she was CT, or Hannah as she was now known to them.

Garrus still couldn't wrap his head around it. It made perfect sense in hindsight, nearly everything did in that respect. And he could already understand the basics of the why, yet he wanted to confront her. But once they were back on the Crucible, he had been reassigned to scavenging duty again with James, while Tali, Liara, and Kasumi had spent their days working on their new project.

Which is why they were on this particular mission, to use the term lightly. Tali's information was yielding promising results. And the Mako was in charge of transporting some of the fruits of the engineers labor. Along with the three women. James and Garrus were supposed to be a security detail. Not that their three companions needed it.

"How much further is it? I think I'm growing blisters already." Kasumi asked as she rubbed her tailbone, her voice sounding like a child who needed to make use of the toilet.

"You think this is bad? You should have seen it when Shepard was in the drivers seat."

Kasumi's eyes widened in fear. "Shepard drove? And Liara you let her drive on Illium?"

The asari looked up from her work and arched an eyebrow. "That's precisely the reason I had her drive."

James laughed loudly from the front. "Lola, drive? What'd she do end up taking out a truck?"

"Almost, James." Responded Liara with a cool chuckle. "She ended up doing rather splendidly and no one got hurt save for the Spectre we were hunting. Though the Council was not pleased when we build them for the damage done to Azure."

They hit a bump and Kasumi let out a whimper of pain. "Watch it you oaf! I rather enjoy being able to feel my legs."

"Sorry about that. But, Azure…you actually went there?"

Tali's head turned the front and Garrus could see sweat beginning form on the back of his neck. "Yes, yes we did. Is there something you wish to know. I was only there for a short time, but I'm pretty sure I can give you a detailed account."

James shook his head. "Uh, no. That's fine, Sparks. I'll just keep my eyes on the road."

"What road? We're following a preset navigation route through a desert."

"Shut up, Scars."

Garrus leaned back into his seat and laughed. "Liara, you remember when she nearly drove us off a cliff on Noveria?"

The doctor sighed. "Unfortunately. I seem to recall quite a few geth shooting at us that day."

"Well if you had me they wouldn't have been much of a problem."

"And what could you do from the Mako?"

Tali glared at Liara. "I could have kept the shields from failing so myself and the mechanics wouldn't have had to spend so much time repairing this rig."

Liara nodded. "Fair enough, but we had the canon and machine gun and we spent the majority of the trip inside the Mako so your hacking abilities would have been a total waste."

Returning to her work, Tali began cursing under her breath. While Kasumi fidgeted in her seat. It pleased Garrus to see her in such a state. Usually she was like him, calm, collected, and a bit of a smart ass, and he liked that about her. So much so that when he noticed a special rock formation he pointed at James and used one of the hand signals they'd used in the Hammerhead.

James nodded and veered to the right a bit, lining up the Mako. Their friends were too busy with their work to notice what the two in the front were doing. Slowly, James built up their speed, again none of them noticed until just a few dozen meters out he slammed on the gas. All three of the women shouted at them while Urz slid to the back of the Mako and when they hit the edge they went sailing over the desert landscape.

Garrus felt his stomach drop while he laughed, James was howling in victory while Kasumi cursed at them, her feet trying to push her against the wall in a vain attempt to flee for safety. Tali and Liara attempted to scream at them, but laughter could be heard in their voices. When they landed, albeit fairly gently thanks to the thrusters on the bottom, Kasumi began cursing them in Japanese while Tali exhaled loudly.

"Damn it, Shep…I mean James! You're lucky the container didn't become dislodged from its trailer!"

"If you two do that again!" Liara's voice more amused than angry.

Urz barked loudly at them but quieted after a few moments.

"Just thought we'd try it for old times sake. Glad to see the old girl still has it." Garrus gave the wall of the vehicle a gentle pat as they began rumbling along toward their destination. The air inside the tank was ten degrees cooler after their little stunt.

After another three hours of driving, their destination was in sight. It was a large military compound, it looked several decades old and Garrus had to appreciate the simplicity of it. He remembered seeing older turian bases like the ones they were in during his short lived military career, but just like those many of the human ones had become museums or supply depots as opposed to long term defensive positions.

Still this place was unusually well secured. He noticed several snipers, three of them with Black Widow rifles aimed at the tank. Several guards were equipped with Mattocks and Carnifex pistols. Heavy duty equipment for taking out a target quick and easy. Garrus had become acquainted with both guns and while he come to prefer his Vindicator and Valiant. He respected the craftsmanship of the weapons and the skills of their handlers.

"I'm going to have to check the contents of the container. Please remain seated." The voice came was female, for that he was certain. But he couldn't see the person or discern race thanks to the noise the Mako was making. He heard the hydraulics on the door hiss open and the clamoring of feet enter the tank. Followed by the groans of the squad.

"It's a pleasure to see all of you as well." Garrus put his face in his palm when he heard the woman speak.

"Rear-Admiral, it is good to see you again."

"The same to you as well, Admiral Zorah. My apologies for the invasion, but I'm under strict orders to confirm the contents of the container you have attached to the tank. You and Doctor T'Soni will be the only ones necessary. The rest of you can remain in the tank." Urz gave a bark and she laughed. "Fine you can come too. I doubt they want to smell what'll be coming out of you."

Garrus looked over his shoulder at the beast. "Traitor."

When the door shut, James leaned back and whistled loudly. "So this is what happened to her after Hackett reassigned us."

"In charge of a derelict military base. Smells like what Urz has been brewing up for the past hour."

"That it does, Scars." James turned his head, "You think we'll get an honest answer this time?"

He shrugged. "We're post war James and trying to keep a solar system alive. I'd hate to say it but I think we're about as close as we're going to get."

"I never figured you for someone who would just sit back and take it."

Garrus shook his head. "Right now I have to worry about keeping people fed and from killing each other."

"I suppose you're right. But I'd still like to know what they've had us towing around for the past two days."

Putting his feet on the dash, Garrus grunted. "I'm certain we'll find out soon enough." He pointed out the window and saw Tali and the others walk past the gate with CT. When they were in far enough, James was given the okay to pull in behind a jeep.

Following the vehicle they were brought into a giant warehouse. Where several soldiers and scientists were eagerly awaiting them. After exiting, they were ordered get into the jeep. James protested, but stopped with a shake of Garrus' head. When they were seated the heard a series of hums and creeks as an engine started and the Mako and its cargo began to disappear beneath the ground.

"Hey! We had orders to take that thing back to the shipyard tomorrow and get reassigned."

"You have been reassigned Lieutenant Vega."

CT appeared with Liara and Kasumi.

"Where's Sparks?"

CT waved her hand. Her face was much older than Garrus remembered. Her red hair much grayer, but her clothes and attitude still told him to tread lightly.

"Admiral Zorah is being taken care of. She is on her way to the medical bay for sanitation before heading down into the labs."

"Sanitation? Does she have an infection?" James voice , for the first time in Garrus' memory, actually sounded scared."

"Noting of the sort, Lieutenant." He voice was a bit softer this time. "We are keeping the cargo in a clean room for now to begin some very delicate work. And with that synthetic limb of hers, we can't take any chances of any dirt or other contaminants destroying the work this facility has been doing."

"And what work is that, Rear-Admiral?"

She turned to Garrus with a cool smile on her lips. "Something you will find out about soon enough, on that you have my word. But for now you will be taken to your quarters along with Ms. Goto. Dr. T'Soni and I have many important matters to discuss."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, Scars. This is bullshit!"  
Garrus and James were sitting in the common room of their quarters along with Kasumi. They'd taken a brief tour and were once again feeling guilty about the luxurious nature of their surroundings. Once again they had been given private rooms, an abundance of food, a work station for weapons and armor, as well as full access to the extranet among other things. And while Kasumi had taken to the comfort rather easily, Garrus was going through his mission files

James was pacing like trapped wolf. Kasumi was fiddling around with her omni-tool, the occasional curse slipping from her lips as the code she was no doubt trying to hack blocked her. "This security, wait a minute…"

Garrus turned his attention back to Vega and his ramblings. "You're going to tread a path in the floor if you don't stop that pacing."

"Fuck you, Scars. I thought you were all for going outside the system. But, I can see that was a lie. Probably like a good portion of those war stories you told me."

Chuckling, Garrus took a sip of his water. "I may have embellished a few things, what man doesn't, but I've also learned a bit of patience over the past few years. You do that when you grow up. And besides," he eyed Kasumi, "we have the best thief in the galaxy with us. I'm pretty sure we'll know everything there is to go on in this place within the hour."

James had a rebuttal prepared but the door hissed open and his anger was immediately forgotten as Tali removed her helmet revealing her covered, yet beaming face underneath. Her eyes bright with satisfaction.

"Glad to see you all aren't destroying the base."

"He was prepared to," said Kasumi pointedly as James stared at Tali. When he didn't move, she got up from her seat and planted her foot in his back shoving him forward. "Just hurry up and kiss her already. I have more important things to do than play matchmaker with you." she ten proceeded to storm out of the common area growling, "It's like watching a trashy old teenage romance.

Opening a file, Garrus began reading it to keep his eyes occupied while his visor played an old human song in his ear.

"You're okay?"

His eyes locked intently on his screen as the music played in his ear, Garrus remained blissfully unaware of what was happening and hoped it would be taken to James or Tali's room. He was thankfully spared such a moment of awkwardness as a bell was heard. When he looked up he could see James making a bee line for the door while Tali adjusted her shawl.

When she made eye contact with Garrus she immediately headed toward the hallway and looked through each door before entering the one Garrus recognized as James's.

"Hey, Scars."

Breaking free of his thoughts, Garrus turned to the door to see James standing head to shoulder with the admiral. Climbing to his feet he turned and began raising his arm.

"No salute, Vakarian. This is a short and informal visit. You are free to leave, Vega." She however did not reproach the lieutenant for his salute and remained quiet until the younger man was gone.

Looking around the room she nodded. "You are pleased with your arrangements?"

Garrus nodded, "Truth be told we're used to the bare minimum. This is just a little too comfortable for us."

She snorted but a small smirk was on her lips as she stared at the news feed. "Understandable. You view yourselves as simple soldiers, and yet a simple soldier would not have been able to do what you and the crew of the Normandy did. You deserve a bit more than the bare minimum and many are more than willing to take you up on the offer." She turned to him her face set like stone. "Just be sure you keep your humility about you and you'll be fine."

"Of course ma'am. And thank you for the hospitality. But if it's all the same to you, I'd rather be more up front and ask why the hell you had us reassigned here"

The corner of her mouth curled and she headed toward the door. "Civilian attire, Vakarian. Eleven P.M. topside. We have a bar set up there so we don't have drunken idiots destroying the equipment my people have been developing."

"If it's all the same to you, Admiral. I'd rather not."

"This is not a suggestion Vakarian." Her voice was now as cold as tray of water James had put in the freezer an hour ago. "You will be there or you will be put in the brig. Do you understand?"

He wanted to say no. But something told him she would follow through on her threat so he nodded. "Fine. But I'm bringing them," he pointed at the hallway, "with me."

"If it makes you feel safer, than you can go ahead and come loaded for bear."

She left without another word.

At ten-fifty-five, Garrus, Tali, James, Liara, and Kasumi entered the bar. It was filled with several people. Some playing poker, others were drinking at tables and laughing loudly, some were just sipping their drinks and watching the vid that was playing. Scanning the room he found CT sitting at the bar in military casuals. In her right hand was a cigarette and in her left a sifter of what looked like brandy. Her face occasionally broken by a laugh at the vid.

The group split from him, heading over to a nearby pool table. All except Liara who followed Garrus to the bar. She placed an order while Garrus sat at the bar next to CT who barely paid any attention to him while she tapped some excess ash off the tip of her cigarette. When Liara left with the drinks she raised her hand at the bartender who pulled out a bottle of turian brandy, a glass, and water and set them in front of Garrus while she downed the rest of her drink.

"Rough day, Admiral?"

She chuckled and waited for her glass to be refilled. "Not especially, Garrus. I've got a good crew, I'm alive. And we're showing signs of actual sustainable agriculture for all the non-humans inhabiting our system." Garrus found a hint of annoyance in her voice, but he couldn't blame her. "But we're surviving and things are looking up." She sipped gingerly at her drink. "You going to crack that bottle or am I wasting a couple of packs of smokes on you?"

Garrus pulled the water to him and poured it into the glass. He took a deep drink and heard her scoff. "It's dangerous to offer me a beverage, Admiral."

She drank a bit more and lit up another cigarette. After a long drag she pursed her lips and blew out a steady stream of smoke. "I know you didn't take your meds today, Garrus so you're safe to drink. And call me, Hannah."

"I'm not sure that's appropriate."

"Fuck protocol Garrus. You were important to my daughter and stood by her. You've earned the right to call me by my first name."

"Then what the hell was all that 'CT' business about? Call sign?"

She laughed again at the screen and ate a bit of stale popcorn, spitting out a seed in the process. "Your thief friend should have figured out that I was black ops with that device I allowed the lieutenant to steal."

Garrus decided to risk the drink and asked for shot glass and downed a shot of his own. "It said you were scouted for black ops but decided against it for personal reasons."

Hannah took a long drag and blew the smoke from her nose. "Well the truth is the call sign comes from the state I was born in." She turned to him and saw the confusion on his face. "Connecticut, I was born in Connecticut and it just kind of stuck throughout my military career."

Sipping at the brandy, Garrus nodded, "I've seen similar from my brief time in the turian military. But the black ops aspect still has me confused." She remained quiet at this statement. "I take it, Leela was the reason you left?"

"The reason I left, and the reason I went back."

She drained her glass again and filled it once more.

"No wonder she was vague about your responsibilities."

"She was vague because I made it vague to her. It was my own personal conviction to her that she think of me in a better light. I'd rather she idolized her father than me." There was a small hint of bitterness in her voice.

"What did your husband have to say about it? I'm sure he was a man who wouldn't like you to hide something like that from your child."

She chuckled. "Mark wanted me to share it with her, but I chose not to. I'd rather her only think of one of us as a killer. And he was a person who met his enemy face to face. Me? I was just a coward who did it without getting caught. Hell there were plenty of missions I wasn't even in the room. I just found a way to get them to take themselves out."

"There's no shame in what you did. You chose the life of a soldier and killed to protect your child and your people. As a turian you would be commended for such a thing."

"Says the failed soldier and C-sec officer who was only given respect after joining with the first human Spectre and saving the galaxy not once but three times." She held up two fingers before noticing her mistake and held up a third. "Probably the worst turian I've ever heard of."

He laughed and downed his second drink. "You wouldn't be the first one to call me that. Though Leela was pretty fond of saying it."

The admiral shook her head. "And here I thought Leela was just pulling my leg."

"No, ma'am. No leg pulling. And I don't regret one damn second of it."

She brought her drink to her lips and held it there for a moment before setting it down. "I thought you'd just randomly found those dog tags."

"It was a spare set she'd given to me before leaving me with EDI and the other troops to head into the Conduit while the Battle of London was happening."

She pushed the drink away and lit her third cigarette but didn't take a drag. "So how intimate were you two?"

"As intimate as one could get when fighting an enemy like the Reapers. To be honest I'm still an idiot with human mating, hell I'm still bad at it with turian females, but she…she was different."  
His voice trailed off and Hannah laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing is funny, Garrus. She had that ability. I think that's one reason you all came out of the shit storms you got thrown into."

"What's that, Hannah?"

"She had this odd ability to convince people they will succeed even if death was staring them in the face."

"Even those under her command on Akuze?"

Hannah downed her drink in response. "There's no way any one could have convinced the people involved with that nightmare that they would come out alive."

"But she did."

"And she still had nightmares didn't she?"

Garrus remained silent for a moment before speaking. "Among nightmares of other things yes, she did. The nights when she didn't scream were some of the worst."

Hannah nodded. "Thank you for being there for her."

Garrus smiled and gave her a knowing look. "She was strong, Hannah." He pulled out the third journal and put it on the bar top. "Even with how many times I saw her break she remained strong."

The admiral picked up the journal and laughed at it. "This is Mark's influence. It has to be."

"She said he gave her the idea."

Putting the journal down she noticed the date. "I take it she started this around the time she was eighteen. When her career started."

"On the day that she said she found out you were keeping the calls from the Alliance from her. Said your husband coerced you into buying her some new books and a fancy dinner."

She laughed away a few tears. "I remember that night. It was a few weeks after her…." her voice trailed off and she handed the journal back to Garrus. "It's a subject best not discussed."

He watched her pour another drink and drain half of it in one go. He watched her for a minute. The joy was replaced by guilt and sadness, her hands were shaking terribly. Taking a chance he reached out and put his hand on hers. She looked at him in shock and he nodded.

"I know."

Hannah scoffed and ran a hand through her graying hair. She once again looked years older. "Of course you do. I don't think she could hide something like that from her crew."

"Well, she told us all individually. And nobody made any comment after finding out. I was one of the last to find out, possibly the last. I think she didn't want to scare me off or.."

"Or have her feel like a freak or like she was being used."

Garrus nodded. "I told her I didn't want to come off as a person with a fetish for humans when we first discussed it. I just wanted the same thing she did, to have a bit of happiness before our possible deaths."

"And after you found out?"

"I still didn't care. After making a total ass of myself I told her if she wanted me to leave that I would. At the moment I cared enough about her to not destroy the relationship I had with her. She was a mentor to me among other things and a cherished friend."

"And now?"

"And now," he repeated before smiling. "She said it herself. There is no Shepard without Vakarian. And the reverse is the same."

She squeezed his hand. "That's good to know."

"She deserved nothing less."

"On that you are right." She patted the scaled hand. "The hell that girl went through."

Garrus laughed. "She never thought of it that way. She knew she had life bad, but figured that there were those out there who had it worse and that she was needed to help make it better."

Hannah laughed. "Yeah, that girl was always empathetic. One of the many things she got from her father."

"I think she got a bit more from you than you realize."

She sipped at her brandy. "What do you think she got from me?"

Garrus took another shot of liquid courage. "Well, I can say with absolute certainty that she got being a leader from the two of you. But if you're any indication I have quite a few things to look forward to in the next thirty years."

The admiral chuckled. "Flattery, Vakarian?"

He shrugged. "Well it can't hurt. I figure she'd want me to play nice with you."

"Well it certainly bought you some points." She sipped at her points.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a short while. Before Garrus asked, "Can I ask you a few questions."

She spat out another popcorn seed. "Shoot. I know you're good at that." She wiggled an eyebrow at him.

Garrus rubbed his forehead and chuckled. "Yeah, that I am. But I'm actually curious about a few things."

"Like what?" She was chewing on some more popcorn and chuckled again at the vid screen.

"What was she like? Before, I mean."

Picking at her teeth with her tongue, he could see her eyes dart back and forth between him and the screen. Garrus didn't keep his eyes off of her for a second and finally she broke. "What do you think she was like?"

"The only person I've ever known is her as a soldier. Anything else I've learned from these journals and those start with her just before she turned eighteen."

"Are you sure you want to know this?"

Garrus nodded. "At the moment all I have left are memories. So why not share the ones I have with one of the people who knew her best."

She drained half a bottle of water and sighed. "She was a kid. A good kid. Smart, kind, respectful. A bit of flirt with some of the older officers, she managed to get them into trouble a few times. I remember she had a bunch of the kids on one ship wrapped around her finger running drills like she saw me doing with some of the troops Mark and I were training. She was our kid." Garrus watched her closely, her eyes sad yet strangely happy. "She was the light of our lives. Even if one of us came back from a mission that went south she always made us smile."

"That sounds a lot like her."

Hannah wiped a stray tear and pulled out a tiny projector and from it a picture of her daughter appeared. She was no older than seven dressed in ripped jeans and a tee-shirt. Her hair wildly uncombed and a series of bandages on her arms. Even then, before the surgeries and therapies all he could see was the woman he'd followed into battle. "She was always getting into trouble as well. I remember her always getting into stupid fights with other kids just because she spoke her mind to them. Though I guess it was because she always had her nose stuck in some book we'd given her or documentary. It didn't earn her many friends having such strong opinions. And not to mention the biotics among other things."

"Strong morals and convictions. Sounds like her. I bet it didn't make things easier when she got older."

She sipped carefully at her drink again. Her hands shaking once more. "Yeah. She started having certain feelings about herself. Saw a few videos and we took her to a few shrinks and they 'diagnosed' her."

Garrus laughed at the familiar hand gesture he'd seen Sparatus use a few times. "You make it sound like she had a disease."

"To some it still is. People like Traynor and Cortez are fine, but she had to keep it who and what she was at home. They thought it was a phase. But after awhile it all made sense. She only ever seemed happy when locked in our quarters or when we were off ship for leave. She was able to be who she was and dress and act in a way that made her feel complete. The sad thing is, that the only thing hat was ever wrong with her was her chromosomes. Everything else was damn near perfect. But we still had to hide our daughter like some dirty little secret for over half a decade." She sipped again at the alcohol in front of her. "And then she turned fifteen."

Garrus noticed the change in her voice and poured her another drink. "She told me about those kids on the ship. How she ended up getting the crap kicked out of her and the parents started blaming her. About her and your husband meeting you with her wearing one of your dress uniforms."

"Proudest fucking moment of my life."

Garrus chuckled. "So I take it, it was all sunshine and bunnies, as Joker would put it?"

Hannah shrugged. "Not really, she still had problems but she was finally free to be who she was around people, though the transition with the shots made it a bit more difficult once certain things began to appear that were never there before." She gave an animated show of a chill running down her body. "Those were some of the more awkward moments of my life. But she needed me there and I was never going to abandon her. Not like my mother." She downed her drink again and smirked at Garrus whose eyes were still locked on her like the targeting mechanism of a fighter. "And eventually some kids on our final ship got to know her and she made friends and even started dating. Though she occasionally got into it with her friends because she wouldn't let them doll her up before dates.'

"No dresses?"

The admiral looked like she was about to die at the comment. Her face was bright red from the laughter and after several moments she calmed down and shook her head. "No way. Dresses were a no fly zone with her. I tried to offer her one of mine for a date once. Let's just say she doesn't need her biotics to send someone flying."

Nearly choking on his water, Garrus could only imagine what Leela had done when her mother had offered her the dress, and he decided it best not to tell Hannah about Kasumi actually getting her daughter into a dress. When they calmed down he swished the water I his glass and looked at the projection fondly. "I wouldn't have her any other way. I find the hoodie and jeans to be a rather attractive look for her. That and the sports bra and shorts."

Shuddering, the admiral kicked the turian gently. "Don't give me any sordid details on your love life with my daughter." When he feigned pain she chuckled. "She ever tell you about the time I caught her and the admiral's daughter?"

Garrus spat out his drink and stared at her. "An admiral's daughter? Now who's offering up sordid details."

Hannah winked and finished her latest drink. And Garrus' curiosity got the better of him. "What was her name?"

"Penny Benjamin." She stated without hesitation. "Our Leela was seventeen the Penny was almost nineteen. It was about six months before the final surgery." The meaning behind final was painfully obvious to the two of them. "Mark had a mission that was taking too long and I had finished early with mine. We were stationed on a small colony for awhile, Penny and Leela grew close, we knew of course and she was a good kid. Treated our Leela with respect and kindness. We both liked her." She poured another drink. "And when I came home I caught them in her bed. They were asleep, naked, and it didn't take much for me to figure out what had happened the night before."

Garrus had to take another drink to process the information and Hannah grinned devilishly. "It was not a fun conversation between the three of us. Considering the fact that they got into our liquor cabinet."

"Underage drinking and raging hormones, that usually spells disaster."

Hannah shifted uncomfortably. "Usually, but our Leela was never one to do things without considering the consequences. And I couldn't get too mad at her. I was the same age when I first slept with somebody and it wasn't like I could stop them not even being on the planet." Lighting up another cigarette she exhaled with a laugh. "She apologized and I could tell neither of them had malicious intent. I was more upset about the liquor than anything, it made some of those precautions completely useless. And well, I didn't want to see her hurt." She drank a bit more and said, "And she wasn't. Penny left along with her father, who never learned of the situation and they lost touch with one another shortly there after. And until you or Liara she never made mention of anyone she became involved with ever again."

The uncomfortable silence returned after that and Garrus watched the vid as well for a few minutes before changing the topic. "So why did you hide your identity from us. I had my suspicions about you, but why did you do it?"

"Would you have allowed me to come if I had told you who I was?"

Garrus shook his head. "I don't know if I would have. But it may have helped keep you from getting your ass handed to you by Jack."

She shrugged. "I remember that fight a little differently, but I see your point. I've just grown accustomed to hiding my identity for so long that it's become second nature."

"Noted. Just be sure to tell us the truth next time."

She smirked. "Noted."

Turning from the woman to the screen, he noticed the date on the bottom of the screen and the time. When he saw the admiral raising her fresh filled glass, he stopped her and pointed. She blinked a few times and her eyes widened when she finally took notice.

They waited until the time changed to quadruple zeros and the date switch to the eleventh. Hannah raised her glass over the hologram of her young daughter and smiled at it. "Happy birthday, sweetheart. My little Vanguard."

Garrus clinked his glass over the hologram and in the usual rumble of his voice said without his translator in slightly broken English. "Happy birthday, Leela."

Hannah's eyes widened in shock but she shared the drink with him and moved the hologram over to him. "Keep it. So that if you find her, she knows I'm still around."

He nodded and tapped a button until a picture of her in military garb appeared. Smiling warmly he looked at the mother of his mate and smiled as her mother lit another cigarette before pouring herself a tall glass of water.

Pouring a glass of his own, he scratched his chin. "Mind if I ask a few more questions?"

"Anything, Garrus."

Taking a drink of water he sighed as Hannah turned her attention back to the video screen.

"What's with her and the Jell-o wrestling?"

Water sprayed the bottles on the bar and pounded her chest coughing while Garrus heard James and the others laugh from the pool table at the sight of the admiral. Garrus noticed one of Tali's drones disappear and figured the engineer had been recording them for the past few minutes.

When she finally calmed down enough, the admiral grabbed both bottles of liquor and poured them both some more and said, "Liquor up, Garrus. Because we got a long road ahead of us."


	13. Chapter 13

I thought it was gonna take a few days to figure out the chapter but a nice relaxing thirty minute thinking period and I figured it out today….soon my pretties…

Also REPOST OF THIS CHAPTER! The ending was crap so I decided to repost it…though much of the flaws were pointed out by a reader. She was right and it needed to be done!

Chapter 13

"Are you sure you're trained in how the proper use and care of this rifle?"

The soldier stared at Garrus, her face a deep crimson from the sun and chastising she was receiving from the turian. "I'm a soldier in the Alliance. And have been trained in the use of all standard equipment."

He snorted and flipped the Mattock around and laid it flat on her table. With ease he disassembled the exterior and pointed at the mechanisms. "That much is clear. This rifle is not standard issue. It originally was not meant to handle a thermal clip. And because of this," he pulled out a piece of the gun, "when you go to discharge your clip you'll effectively cause the gun to blow up in your face due to your faulty reinsertion."

Setting down the piece Garrus removed the parts and pushed the gun back in front of the soldier. "I'll walk you through it again."

"Yes, sir."

Two hours, and several corrections, Garrus was certain the girl would be able to field strip the gun with confidence. But he'd be checking in on her from time to time. After their arrival he and James had been designated to take proper command of the armory. And they had their work cut out for them. The armory was in total disarray and after three days of cleaning they had it completely organized and working like a well oiled machine and running routine inspections on the weapons and daily trainings on proper maintenance.

Many of the soldiers treated their assignment like it was a resort vacation. There was no enemy left to fight and they were guarding a base without knowing why. And Garrus understood their frame of mind, but he had first hand experience knowing the real state of what was going on. He knew that things weren't as peaceful as they seemed and it stirred something in him and James when he saw the carelessness of the people who weren't taking the job seriously.

To be fair, Hannah blamed some of that on herself. She was so focused with her work in the lower levels, of which only those working on the project knew the specifics of, and had paid dearly for not taking more direct control of the situation. And there was resistance at first when she announced the removal of those she'd left in charge of the squads.

That didn't go over too well with a certain number of people, primarily because they thought of the lieutenant and Garrus as merely elevated grunts. And Garrus agreed with them to a point. In the hand to hand, Garrus had a number of close calls while James ended up on his face a couple of times. But they got their point across and the dissenters begrudgingly fell into place. That still didn't stop them from occasionally making life a living hell for them on occasion.

Putting away his tools he checked the clock and looked tapped a claw against his forearm. It made a dull ticking sound as it hit his armor in rhythm with the old clock. He found the sound soothing. He had grown up only with holographic displays but he'd found the old clock while cleaning up the armory and made it a project to keep himself busy when he worked nights. It'd taken awhile to a modify it but he had to admit he'd grown fond of the little rosewood clock.

Finally after being nearly half an hour late, James showed up in light armor and a smug look on his face. Garrus knew what that meant and shook his head. He knew where the lieutenant had just come from and hew as certain Hannah would not have appreciated his distracting Tali from her work.

"Don't start with me, Scars." Garrus let out a deep grunt that made the lieutenant jump. "The fuck was that!"

Chuckling the turian patted the human on the shoulder and put a towel in his hands. "Don't worry about it, Vega. Just make sure you're on time tomorrow. I'd hate to see what the admiral would do to you if word got out about your little liaisons with Tali up in that little nest you two have made.."

"How do you know I was even with her?"

Garrus pointed at his own neck as he headed toward the door, a knowing chuckle escaping his lips. "One of the nice things about not having lips like yours, I have to break skin to leave any sort of evidence."

Without a look back, Garrus headed into glowing twilight that was the desert evening. He'd come to enjoy the desert. The cold nights were a little unbearable, but the heat reminded him of home. Staring up at the sky, he glared at the giant crescent the explosion burnt into the sky. A permanent reminder of the war.

"Excuse me, Vakarian, sir."

He turned to see the female officer he'd been teaching earlier. "Sergeant Connor, what can I do for you?"

Connor adjusted her rifle and saluted. "My apologies sir, but Rear-Admiral Shepard has asked for you to join her in the conference room."

"I'm off duty for the day. Can't you get Vega or someone else to go?"

"I can't do that, sir. You're presence is mandatory and so is Lieutenant Vega's. They've placed Claudus in charge of the armory until you get back."

Garrus spat on the ground and grumbled. Claudus was competent and would keep everything under control, but something smelt wrong about this sudden meeting. Not to say that Hannah didn't share things with them, but an unscheduled meeting was an unusual call for her.

"Fine, Connor. Send word that I'll join them shortly." When she didn't move, Garrus rubbed a hand along the back of his neck. He'd need to hit the infirmary soon, but as he hadn't gotten a headache he would put it off until the morning. Looking over his shoulder at the sergeant he waved his hand. "Lead the way."

After a ten minute walk, Garrus turned left to the conference room and stopped only when he heard Liara. "What's the problem, T'Soni?"

Liara was attempting to balance several data pads in her arms only to drop the majority of them on the floor. Bending down, Garrus picked them up and blinked rapidly at what he saw. "Liara what is all this?"

Snatching the pad from Garrus, the doctor put the pad back in her arms and smiled. "You'll find out soon enough. Follow me."

"The conference room…"

"Is in the lower levels."

Garrus remained stationary. "The lower levels? Liara what the hell is going on?"

The asari shook her head as a few soldiers walked past her. When they were gone she took a few steps backwards and whispered to Garrus. "Just follow me and you will know soon enough. We don't want to cause a panic."

Growling again he stood up and straightened his armor. "Fine, Liara. But this better be worth it."

"Trust me, Garrus. You'll find the outcome to be quite fulfilling."

"Somehow I doubt that, Liara."

She rolled her eyes and began walking down the hallway. "And I thought being the Shadow Broker made me a cynic."

Catching up with her he watched the passing of the soldiers and received the occasional frown from the soldiers who hadn't accepted his and James' new authority. "You know, Liara it's amazing that you lasted as long as you did with how often you blab about being the biggest information broker in the galaxy."

She laughed and gave him a knowing look. "Well it doesn't really matter since much of our communication with the rest of the galaxy has been cut off. And besides, much of my resources were diverted to the armada. Dextro and amino based crops, building supplies, eezo, the list goes on Garrus. I figure that if people know who I am, I may garner a few more favors after this project proves successful."

A chill shot down his spine. "You aren't planning on taking over Omega are you?"

Liara gave a thoughtful hum and looked up at the ceiling. "It is certainly a much more fortified position than my old ship was. However I'm not a fan of having to deal with so many gangs and Aria does have the upper hand in age and knowledge. But I'm sure I could figure something out."

Garrus increased the distance between the two of them by a few extra inches as they approached the end of a hallway. Taking the data pads against his will, Garrus watched as Liara activated her omni-tool and opened a hidden lift inside the wall.

"Hidden elevators? When has anything in our lives involving hidden elevators ever resulted in anything good?"

"Maybe this time will be different."

Faltering for a moment, Garrus stepped into the lift followed by Liara who used her omni-tool once more to shut the door.

"Security clearance code, please."

"Security protocol code level five. Access code alpha-sierra-five-six-peter-niner-lambda."

"Welcome Doctor T'Soni. Secondary party please state your identity."

Garrus looked to Liara who simply nodded. "Garrus Vakarian."

"Voice match confirmed. Please stick your hand out for D.N.A confirmation."

"D.N.A?"

"Yes, please insert your hand palm up for verification." A hole opened in the wall next to him.

His left hand paused above his right and he looked to Liara. "Is this really necessary?"

"Garrus you have your neck drained by a needle three times that size multiple times a month. This is just a little prick."

Growling he removed his glove and put his hand in the slot and after feeling the needle pierce his palm and a small spray of medi-gel, he put the glove back on and took some of the pads back. "I meant the need for my blood, not the use of the needle Liara."

"D.N.A sequence confirmed. Welcome Garrus Vakarian. Please enjoy your visit to the lower levels." interrupted the V.I. and the lift hummed to life.

"In a way it is necessary, Garrus. We've been working on this project for quite awhile and we've taken as many precautions as we can to ensure that it remained safe during the War."

About to speak, Garrus was interrupted by the opening of the lift and was greeted by James and Tali. The human not looking as amused as his counterpart.

"She give you the runaround as well?"

"To an extent."

"Yeah, same here." He turned his disgruntled visage to the engineer. "Are we waiting for anyone else?"

"Not that I'm aware of. The others have been here for a few hours and Hannah is only waiting on us."

Without another word, James waited for the women to lead the way and fell in behind them and next to Garrus. As they walked through the halls, they passed by several workers, some dressed in hazmat suits and others speaking in hushed voices or stopping their discussions all together when Garrus and James appeared.

"And the secrets just keep on building."

"If that's the way you're going to act, Lieutenant you can turn around and head back to Hackett and scavenging duty."

They stopped and they turned to the left to find Hannah sitting with her feet up on the conference table. In the room were Jack and Kaidan. Jack's hair even longer than before and Kaidan looking rather unkempt. But they were in much higher spirits than when Kaidan last saw them. Kaidan and Jack began to get up from their seats but Hannah stopped that.

"I didn't bring you down here for reunions."

"And yet you have a large portion of the Normandy crew standing before you in a government classified location. Which means, based on my experience, you're probably going to end up on a mission that will most likely kill us." The crew all stared at James who shrugged. "What the fuck else would they bring us in for?" Jack began snickering while Kaidan shook his head. After a few moments the others gave their own little laughs and even Hannah had to crack a smile.

"Well, Lieutenant it seems that there is something rattling around in that skull of yours."

He glared at her. "I'll have no problem making your brain rattle. Now are you going to tell us what the fuck is going on?"

Jack choked on the water she was drinking and Hannah laughed. When she calmed down, she held up her hand. "Number one, yes I will be telling you what is going on. Number two, watch your tone with me, Vega. And number three," she lowered her fore and middle fingers and raised her pinky, "I have something that's a bit more effective than you at rattling my brain."

Jack burst into laughter at the joke but James had to be held back from bull rushing her. When he'd finally calmed down enough, Garrus decided it would be better for him to speak.

"Hannah, can you please refrain from destroying Vega's self esteem and just tell us why we've been stationed here?"

The admiral clicked her tongue and sighed. "You have earned the right to know what's been going on. Liara, do you have those documents in order?"

Setting the pads on the table, Liara went behind the admiral and coughed gently. "As you are well aware, this facility is a reconstructed military base from Earth's past. It was originally built during the second half of Earth's twentieth century. It's main purpose was to test out combative aircraft. But after the attach on the Citadel it was repurposed."

Using her omni-tool Liara brought dimmed the lights and brought up a projection. "This looks familiar to all of us correct?"

"That's the thing in London that Anderson and Shepard jumped into? The Conduit, right?"

Nodding at Vega, Liara changed the pages for them showing it standing along side two similar shaped objects. "Not only in London, James. But on Ilos, on the Citadel, and many other planets." The Screen flickered to several planets. Palaven, Ilos, Earth, Mars, Rannoch, Eden Prime Tuchanka, the list grew larger and larger.

"These Conduits were placed on planets with high probability of creating and sustaining sentient life that could possibly reactivate the Citadel. They were either buried, left in remote places, or other places that were difficult to get to while not impossible. In a way it is almost similar to how the Protheans left us the beacons."

Garrus felt his mandibles twitch. "So what you're saying is that they planted them as a way for us to accidentally stumble across the Citadel if we got lucky. Their way of 'guiding' us as they called it."

"Precisely," responded Hannah who had remained seated. "But it's rather interesting. Don't you think. All of these conduits were set for one destination. And yet they are on multiple planets where many species that gained FTL flight and advanced military strength evolved."

The room was silent for a moment until Kaidan spoke. "So you're telling me, that we can network the with the other Conduits on the home planets of other species?"

Hannah winked at him and nodded. "That's precisely what we're saying, Major." Pointing to Liara she waited until the screen showed a Mass Relay. "As you are well aware, the Relays are completely shot to shit. We've no real way of harnessing the power of turning one on for several more years. But, the Conduits we had a little bit of luck on cracking those buggers thanks to Tali and Kasumi."

"Oh come now, Shep. I was just lucky enough to find that bit of code you needed. You and that team of yours did all the real heavy lifting."

A familiar shimmer came from the corner of the dark room making both Jack and James nearly jump out of their skin. Kasumi just laughed while Garrus asked, "What do you mean by 'team'?"

Having the lights turned back on, Hannah sat at the table and spun around in the chair as she spoke. "When my daughter suggested Anderson for the position of Councilor she made one of the smartest moves I've ever seen her pull. I don't know if it was intentional but it was pretty damn smart." She stopped the chair and swayed side to side in it. "Once he was in power, Anderson contacted me and several other top end military people from around the galaxy. Salarian, human, turian, asari, it didn't matter but he found a way to get us together. There were plenty of people willing to believe that Sovereign wasn't a fabrication or a freak accident and we had some pretty sharp minds show up to begin strategizing against them." She stopped and looked at them, her eye dark. "The problem is that the Reapers came a few years too soon. We'd barely been able to figure out how to get the project running and then they hit. All our forces were focused on the battle."

"And you were in charge of this project to do what exactly? Network the Conduits to talk to one another?" It was Kaidan who spoke, and though it was question the major knew he'd hit the nail on the head.

"That's exactly right. The Conduits had a preset destination but we figured out we could reprogram them. Problem is we were just working on that bit of code cracking when the Reapers hit. And had we found the information we needed sooner."

"We could have transported troops in via the Conduits for shock and awe tactics."

She nodded, "Or emergency escapes without the use of ships."

Their was silence for a moment, them taking in the deaths of so many and having an alternate solution so close but be put on hold.

Finally Garrus spoke, "But if the Conduits are essentially smaller Mass Relays, how can we get them to work if we can't get the Mass Relays up and running?"

"Again it comes down to the code and the power supply." Snorted Hannah who was now fiddling with her lighter. "We have the codes which by some sheer amount of dumb luck we were able to translate, but the Mass Relays require more power than we could possibly imagine. However thanks to our engineers we found another way."

The lights in Garrus' head flipped on and he saw the realization dawn on a few other's faces. "The drive cores of the Reapers?"

"Bingo." She tapped her nose. "Thanks to our preliminary work it wasn't too hard to gather the necessary components from the Reapers to reactivate the Conduits after the destruction of the relays. Tali and her group were able to figure out the necessary power draw that would be required and well, let's just say, things have gotten interesting around here."

The she had previously been sitting in front of rose to reveal a large underground bunker with a conduit in it. It's central core was glowing brightly and connected to it were four large Reaper cores all pulsing quietly.

"What the fuck?" were the words that came from Jack and James. Tali laughed and Garrus remained dumbfounded while Kaidan stared on unimpressed.

"This my friends is why you were brought here." She turned on her heels and stared at them. "This Conduit is powered by the cores of four Destroyer class Reapers. We believe after sending in drones that it is stable and is safe for the transport of organic life to do a test jump to Rannoch in hopes that we can begin fully networking with the other systems. While we may not be able to do mass traveling as we did with the ships, we can at least get people home and life back to normal."

Garrus stared at her. "Are you sure this is safe? You said you only tested it on drones."

"Drones and geth, Garrus." Tali limped forward and stood next to Hannah. "The geth that helped with the reactivation offered to make a couple of jumps. They recorded the journey and we are happy to report that Rannoch is doing well."

"But what about the use of the Cores? Isn't rather redundant since they were working already?"

Tali shook her head. "Not necessarily. We had the necessary information to activate this Conduit. Nobody else did and we could only get it started by the use of the Reaper drive cores, much like jumpstarting the battery of an old car here on Earth. Which, upon reactivation, it then sent out a signal to the other conduits which engaged their own emergency start up programs making them think a new cycle for harvesting had started, hence the need to send out a small squad to ensure nothing was wrong." James opened his mouth but she quickly added, "And incase you are wondering about the Relays, those have a different activation code than these and we would need enough power to turn one on before the others would begin their reactivation phase. And with the amount of dark energy those require it would take years."

They were silent for a few moments, absorbing Tali's information. When she felt enough time had passed, Hannah asked, "So, are you prepared for this mission?"

Rubbing his forehead, Garrus sighed at the joke she'd made while the others laughed at him. When he looked up he stared at everyone and asked. "What do you all think?"

Kaidan chuckled, "I'm already in charge of a team being sent to Mars. And Jack's got her own mission to where are you going again?"

The biotic kicked her feet up on the table and chuckled. "I'm taking my ass to Illium with some of my students. See if we can't scrounge up a little fun while we're there."

"What about your biotics?"

Both of them focused the dark energy into their fists. "Prototypes of course, but so far we haven't had any problems."

Garrus nodded at the two of them and laughed. "What the hell give me a team as well."

Hannah's stance stiffened momentarily but she nodded. "You have my thanks, all of you. Get to your rooms and rest. We'll begin mission prep tomorrow. Alenko you're gone in a week, then Jack the following day, and Garrus your team will be last if everything goes accordingly. You'll stay a week to ensure that nothing goes wrong and if you can you will help with Dismissed."

The team all left save for Garrus who stayed behind with the admiral.

"You're sure you want to do this Vakarian? I understand if you don't. You have responsibilities."

He grumbled at her. He'd expected something like this to happen in his life, but nothing had prepared him for the overbearing nature of a human woman. Especially the mother of the woman he'd chosen as his mate.

"I'm certain, Hannah. I'm sure they'll understand my leaving."

"You've only had them for a few weeks Garrus. They need you."

Crossing his arms he glared at her. "They're stronger than you think. And I thank you for helping me with the situation. But I wouldn't do this without taking all the variables into consideration. You know this, Hannah."

Nodding she walked over cupped his face in her hands. "You come back. Do you understand me? And I've already had the same talk with the others."

"You have my word."

Later that night, he was in the car he'd been issued driving away from the base. The moon was out, lighting up the large burn in the sky and despite what it reminded him of, he found a beauty in it.

The drive was uneventful and he soon pulled into a town several miles outside of the base. It was mostly prefab units but it was quiet and rather peaceful. Several of the military personnel lived in the town when off duty and he'd been given one of the prefab units by Hannah after going through the necessary paperwork.

It was necessary for the new change in his life. He couldn't stay on the base, it was unsuitable and to be honest he wanted to get away from people more than usual. As a sniper he was used to being alone, but being around the commoradory of the military so often was just too much for him to bear.

When he arrived at his unit, he entered his security code and was assaulted by the large form of Urz sleeping in the front entry way. The varren looked up at him and grunted before dozing back to sleep.

"Well, thanks for keeping watch on the place."

The varren snorted and rolled over, his back now facing Garrus.

The unit was quiet. Too quiet for an evening like this and when he entered the main living area he found Solana sitting at the dining table sipping a hot beverage while going over several data pads. She had been assigned the role of a teacher in the town. Helping older kids with advanced mathematics. When Garrus asked her why she wanted to stay on Earth than on the Crucible she simply said, "The children stranded here need me more than a research lab."

Walking up to her he gave her head a gentle nudge with his and asked, "How did things go today?"

Setting aside her data pads she returned the nudge. "As could be expected when teaching several teenagers theoretical physics when they would rather be outside lounging about." His mandibles twitched and she glared at him. "We really need to get back home or we'll end up losing what we have of ourselves."

Going into the kitchen he retrieved a drink and some cold leftovers and sat down at the table with her. They sat in silence for a moment when she asked, "Anything interesting happen on the base?"

Stopping mid bite and set down his fork. "Quite a bit happened actually."

Her eyes narrowed and her mouth twitched a little at hearing his voice. "What did you do this time?"  
Garrus swallowed his latest bit of food and laughed. "What makes you think I did something?"

She pointed at his mandibles while hers flared. "Your mandibles twitch four times when you're hiding something from me. It's been that way since we were kids and don't you dare deny it."

Setting down his fork he leaned back and ran a claw gently along his scars. "I joined a mission."

She snorted,. "That much is obvious."

He chortled and at her and took another drink. "It's a mission that is supposed to send me outside the Sol system."

She dropped her data-pad and glared at him. "You're doing what? How is that even possible? Are you taking them?"

"Calm down and relax, Sol. I'm not taking them anywhere."

"So you're abandoning them?"

His throat let out a loud noise and her eyes widened. "I'm not abandoning anybody, Sol. I'm doing this so that we can do what you said. Get home."

"Really, Garrus? Get home? That'll take years and possibly longer than any of us have left to live with the current state we're in."

"Sol, can you just listen to me?"

"No, I'm not going to listen to you. You may have pulled of some miracle helping Mother during those last few months but don't think for one second…"

"Will you stop talking to me like I'm a child!" His voice rose so loud that even Urz came from his post at the front door to check on the situation. Waving the animal away, Garrus looked at his sister whose eyes were wide in shock at what he'd just done. He'd surprised even himself with the outburst. He only ever got this way with his father but given the tone she was taking with him, he didn't care that he'd talked to her in such a way.

Setting aside her data-pad she folded her hands and straightened herself up. And nodded to him, "Please enlighten me, Brother. Tell me why you have to leave so shortly after accepting such a responsibility. A responsibility you yourself accepted at the behest of a dying man."

Garrus rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath. It took almost an hour to explain. Between the conduits, the theories, and Solana's questions. He felt like he was a child again being interrogated by his father when he'd done something wrong as a kid. But never once did he break eye contact with her. She remained calm, poised, and like when he'd explained to his father about the Reapers asked questions only when necessary.

When he was finished he felt his mandibles twitch in anoyance at her patience. "So, are you going to yell at me for leaving them?"

Solana shook her head. "I'm not. I can't yell at you for what you're doing, are right in doing this. It's the only chance we have, Garrus and you're doing the very thing we were raised to believe. You are willing to sacrifice yourself for the greater good.'

He laughed and took another drink of water. "Rather ironic. I'm actually being praised for doing something a normal turian would do."

Getting up from the table, Solana walked over and placed a hand on her brother's shoulder. "You aren't that bad of turian Garrus." When he growled she punched him gently in the jaw. "Listen to me, brother." He refused to look but she turned his head to him and her mandibles flared. "You have taking in two children who needed you. You warned people of the oncoming war and when they didn't listen you went to help people in need. You went on several missions to defend the galaxy. And while that may not mean much to the hierarchy you are a good turian."

"Thanks, Solana."

She laughed, got up from her chair, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You will come back to them. And I'll watch them for you."

He let out a loud groan and ran a hand hand along his forehead. "Solana, don't they're my responsibility. And I've failed in that over the past couple of months. I can find someone at the base to help or maybe one of their friends parents."

She shook her head, their plates making a small grinding noise as the coarse metal ground together. "Whether you like it or not, I'm stuck with them. And you are doing the best you can, Garrus. And those kids know that you are trying. You are here when they wake up and are home most nights to spend time with them and give them the care and support they need."

"But, Sol I signed up without a thought to them. Why the hell did I do that?"

Solana simply shrugged and said, "Because maybe you still think you might be able to find her." When he said nothing she gave him one last kiss on the cheek and left.


	14. Chapter 14

To be Whole Chapter 14

by *Mizutanitony

So again. Chapter 13..not my strongest chapter. LOTS of just mumbo jumbo that I had to insert at some point and I'm pretty sure it turned a lot of you off. TOTAL TONE WHIPLASH and I apologize. Also I was three thousand words into this chapter, scrapped it, and decided to umm well let's just have a Daddy Garrus chapter. Thanks RAVENJADEWOLFE seriously…spam her…she's the reason for this chapter being delayed! And it's going to be a set up for the next chapter. AND NOW ONTO DADDY GARRUS!

Chapter 14

He felt heavy, heavier than usual. Something was keeping him from moving. Opening his eyes he growled as the sun's rays nearly blinded him. He'd forgotten to dim the window again before going to sleep. Moving his arm he heard something scrape on his chest. Looking down he saw a little black dome breathing gently on his chest with a teddy bear clutched in it's owners arms. To his right, a mound of brown hair was staring at him from beneath the blankets.  
Rubbing his eyes he sighed. In the two months since they'd arrived almost every night the pair of them ended up in his bed at some point.

He remembered meeting their father for the first time. A human man named Reese. He was average for a human by what the doctors told him. He was a fairly decent engineer, above average skills in everything, a great helper but not a true visionary. He looked a lot like his son, tan skin, brown hair and green eyes. A kind smile on his face despite the excruciating amount of pain he was in due to the large amount of burns on his body.

"Burns from an explosion and a large amount of eezo. Docs are surprised I've lived this long." He told Garrus one night before one of the turian's procedures. "My wife's kill me for doing something so stupid. But, we were under attack and if I hadn't done it. Our kids would probably be frozen out there like those fucking Reapers."

Shifting in his seat, Garrus calmly asked. "IS there any word on your wife? Your little one, Ismene said she was with the turian military."

Reese hacked out a laugh and nodded. "Yeah, Aela. We met a couple of years ago. Bit of a whirlwind romance but happiest I've been in my life, Kevin too. His mom passed away giving birth to him but he loves her as much as I did."

"So, you got it confirmed?"

The human coughed louder and Garrus gave him some ice chips when he calmed. "Thanks, Vakarian, sir."

"Just call me Garrus."

"A little informal don't you think? You're a Normandy crew member. You guys saved a lot of our asses."

"We did no more than what was expected of us."

Reese wheezed loudly. "Yeah, maybe you're right. But to answer your question I got confirmation of it three nights ago. Her body was found on one of your peoples colonies. Took out a Reaper base. What she saw in me I'll never know." Tears streamed down his cheeks. "And now my kids might not even have me around for much longer."

Garrus stared at him. He didn't know what to say as he'd never been in a situation like this. When the many started to cough again he called for a doctor but Reese shook his head and hit the button once more. His burned face settling as the pain killers kicked in.

"Do you have any family?" Garrus asked quietly.

Reese shook his head again. "None that'll take them if they're alive. Disowned me for marrying a turian. Asari they could understand but a turian? My dad was in the First Contact War, even now his wounds are still fresh. And her family was just as bad, they disowned her just as easily as my family."

Garrus was about to speak again when the kids came running in from their lessons and took over his attention. From that point on every spare minute he had he would find a way to spend with Reese and his children. And after a short time Reese asked Garrus for a favor he thought wouldn't be honored. But Garrus signed the paperwork the same as his friend.

When the inevitable happened, Garrus spent the day in the company of the two children. He was unsure of how to handle their reactions. Kevin sulking and not talking and Ismene broke into tears on a constant basis. If it wasn't for Liara, Solana, and even Jack he wouldn't have gotten through the day let alone the initial week after the prefab unit was prepared.

It was a trial each day Garrus had to learn something new. And Kevin was proving to be the biggest challenge. With Ismene he had a basis of comparison. She was turian born and her mother had instilled many of the core values in her and he could relate to her in some way. The human child was proving a challenge but Garrus felt like he was slowly beginning to figure him out.

That still didn't mean he enjoyed waking up almost every morning to the two children taking over his bed. Shifting quietly he noticed the journal on his chest move slightly. Lifting his right arm out from under the pillow Kevin's head was occupying and lifted it up and found the place he had fallen asleep too.

The mission was not a total success. Ramirez ended up getting injured. They're saying he might need a prosthetic. I also didn't come out unscathed. Four of my ribs are cracked and I got a dislocated shoulder thanks to a couple of mercs we didn't take care of. Bastards had missile launchers and I was too late in getting my biotics up so the barrier wasn't at full strength. But we came out with the intel we needed and nobody died. I had to put in a requisition for a new shotgun and aromas I broke the damn thing in the explosion and the knocked out my emergency life support functions. Dad and Mom'll never let me live that down but any day we can come out with everyone alive is a victory.

Scuttlebutt says that something big is about to happen and we're being placed in lockdown until the intel we grabbed has been decoded and we're back in fighting condition. Something tells me shit is about to hit the fan.

April 12th, 2175

Closing the journal, he placed it on his night stand and heard the familiar whimper of the little black creature on his chest. Reaching down he ran a claw across the back of her neck. She grunted in her sleep and he let out a low purr and the girl shifted on his chest. He ran a claw again, this time on a spot just beneath where her ear would be.

The girl giggled and looked up at him. Her mandibles twitching as she rubbed her eyes. "That was mean, Garrus."

He chuckled and gave her forehead a tap on the crest of her markings. "Well then maybe you shouldn't fall asleep on my chest." He reached out with a hand and began tickling the skin of her neck again and she began laughing.

From beneath the covers they heard a voice groan from under the covers. "Be quiet, it's too early."

Picking up her bear, Ismene brought it down on her brother's head. "Wake up, Kevin. It's time to get going."

The blankets lowered and the boys eyes appeared, narrowed at his sister and the bear. Her own eyes narrowed and her mandibles twitched as she raised the bear again.

"Don't do it."

Garrus watched in silence as the girl's hand wavered for a moment before dropping. The boy caught the bear by the scruff of the neck and wrenched it from her hand. In a flash he was out from under the covers. A blur of brown hair and blue pajamas. The turians eyes widened as she looked at Garrus. Her mandibles twitching slowly as if she were about to cry.

"Garrus!" She whined as she pointed to the door.

He shook his head. "You started it, you finish it."

She narrowed her gaze at him and huffed as she slid off the bed and toward the door. "KEVIN! GIVE ME BACK MY TEDDY OR I'M GONNA SMACK YOU!"

Out in the living room he could hear them running, no doubt Kevin using his size against her and his longer legs to keep ahead of her and way from her talons. Garrus kept them trimmed, but he still worried that in their wrestling matches the girl could still hurt him. Whether by her talons or her plates.

Letting out a loud grunt he got up from the bed and after a quick stop the restroom headed out into the living room on the way to the kitchen. The teddy bear lay on the ground forgotten next to his chair and all he could see was a twisting ball of blue and black on the ground as the kids grunted. Ismene may have been younger but she was only a few inches shorter than him. Her longer arms would have given her an advantage if she knew how to grapple properly, but at three she just wiggled around as her brother tried to pin her.

In the kitchen he pulled out some food and prepared it for them using specially marked items. He'd nearly mixed up Ismene and Kevin's' food once and after that fiasco he'd properly marked them to make sure it didn't happen again. The same went for everything else he had to prepare. Special containers for storage, writing on similar packages, labels. Everything had to be marked and he'd been doing a decent enough job of it, even if his cooking was lackluster the kids ate it happily.

When the food was just about ready he heard a voice say, "Ow!" And looked out the divider of the kitchen and eating area to see a little black curve bounce happily between the furniture a bear bouncing from behind it. Chuckling he balanced the dishes and set them on the table in their proper places. And watched Kevin appear rubbing an already red spot on his head.

Heading to the chalkboard he'd bought he ticked a mark under a column of wins for Ismene and laughed. "She's up on you by five matches now, Kevin."

grumbling he blew a raspberry at his sister and bit into his eggs. "She only wins more because she has such a hard head. If I had skin like hers I'd be winning most of the time."

Sticking her own tongue out and making a face at her brother, Ismene at her own food humming happily as the bear rested on her shoulders.

Garrus did not like the bear. He didn't know why but the stuffed animal bothered him. He'd never seen a bear save for in videos and while not as dangerous as some of the predators on Palaven but something was off about it. Maybe it was the smile or the red shirt, but the bear bothered him and he'd wished Ismene would leave it her room but when she was home she took it everywhere with her and Garrus was pretty sure the fight wasn't worth the headache.

"Garrus do you have to go to the base today?"

Looking up from the data pad he'd been reading about his mission specs he looked at Kevin and shook his head. "No, I have the day off with you two. Just like I have for the past two weeks since things are taking a little longer than we planned to get ready."

"Oh. So, can we go and do something?"

He nodded at the boy. "I don't see why not. Was there something you'd like to do?"

Ismene raised her hand and bounced. "My friend at school said there's a video with a talking fish looking for his son at the movies!"

Garrus felt his mandibles flutter. "A vid about a talking fish?"

The girls mandible stretched wide along with her hands in excitement. "Yeah! It takes place here on Earth and she said it has talking animals from this planet on it! She said it's really old but it's really fun!"

"Does it have sharks?"

The turians looked at him with curious eyes. "Sharks?"

Kevin nodded, "Yeah. They're these big things with razor sharp teeth and gills. They eat other fish and some of them have heads that look like hammers."

The little one shrugged, her plates reflecting in the sunlight. "I just want to see the fish."

"Sharks are fish, dummy."

Garrus flicked him in the ear and pointed at Ismene who pouted. "She doesn't know that so apologize." The boy's attitude had been rather volatile as of late and Garrus was having to keep him in check.

Rubbing his ear, Kevin checked his hand for blood and ate a bit of toast before looking at his sister. "Sorry, Ismene. But, yeah sharks area kind of fish."

Her mood seemed to lift and she smiled at him. "All right. But can we see it Garrus?"

Finishing the hot drink he'd brought out Garrus nodded. "Yes we can, but you know the drill before we leave."

The kids nodded and finished their breakfast and then did their dishes before marching into their shared bedroom. While he finished the rest of the breakfast dishes he heard the kids coordinating a plan of attack on the mess that was their room. He figured he'd give them a half an hour before checking on them. If there was one thing he'd been drilling into them it was the concept of self reliance and the kids took care of themselves well enough so long as an adult was around.

Heading to the end of the hallway he said, "I'll be in my workshop. Do not let Urz out! I don't need him chasing after rabbits again. AND DO NOT UNLOCK THE FRONT DOOR!"

"OKAY!"

Exiting the backdoor he entered his workroom which was a small shed unit about thirty feet from the house. Entering his code he turned on the security feeds to the house. The major security problems were shown along with the kids room. Checking all of them he was satisfied to see the kids were continuing their cleaning and pulled out the weapons he planned on taking for the mission. He had his Valiant and Vindicator primed and ready. He even prepped one of the Black Widow's he'd salvaged from the Normandy wreck. The higher powered sniper rifle required some improvised parts but he was confident in his skills and after several test sessions on the firing range he was satisfied with his handiwork. Especially with the amount of frightened looks he received from the soldiers under his command at it's stopping power it displayed against the dilapidated Mako's they used for firing practice.

For the past few days he'd been contemplated the possibility of taking another weapon with him. It wasn't his first choice of a weapon. He preferred the range and accuracy of his rifles but something told him he would need this weapon. Giving the screens another look, he saw Kevin finishing up helping his sister get dressed he pulled out a lock box from the gun safe and set it on the workbench.

Sighing, he entered the code with shaking hands and heard it click. Opening it he saw the Paladin pistol Liara had found near the London conduit. He could tell from the markings who it belonged too. He'd done them himself for what good they did actually did. Pulling out the gun he checked it's sights and sighed. He'd be taking this gun along with them. Putting the pistol back he locked it and put everything back in the gun safe. Checking the screens he saw Ismene dressing her bear in a jacket and a hat and he gave a small shudder.

A few hours later he was sitting in one of the small cafes that had recently been built with Ismene and Kevin giggling at the scenes from the movie. He had actually enjoyed the film, it was not as bad as he thought it would be. He did find the parts where the little fish was trapped in the tank. He admired the perseverance of the father and the child.

As they sat in the warm afternoon air, Garrus sipped at his drink and felt rather content with his life at the moment. He took a moment and pulled off his read the names on his visor. Where there used to be the name Sidonis now read the name, "Shepard." He remembered when she'd stopped him from putting a bullet through the traitor's head. She'd saved him from slipping down the proverbial rabbit hole again. She'd done the same almost five years ago with Doctor Saleon. It was strange, he was the turian and yet she was the one who always remained in control and followed the chain of command. He hoped he'd been living up to the lessons she taught him.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even hear the kids speaking to him until Kevin threw an ice cube at him. It caught him off guard and the kids laughed at him. "I'm sorry, what was the problem you two?"

Hiding behind her bear, Ismene pointed at Garrus's face. "You look funny without your visor on."

Slipping it back on, the sharpshooter chuckled. "I guess it's a bit unusual. Are you two ready to head back?"

Ismene nodded while Kevin sipped at his soda quietly. "Is there a problem?"  
The human boy shook his head and sucked at the liquid at the bottom. The straw making a strange gurgling noise. "Then why aren't you talking?"

Stopping his drinking, the boy pushed the glass away and sighed. "Because I was drinking."  
His mandibles twitched at the comment and he ruffled the boys hair who ducked out from under his grasp. "Don't do that. I spent a lot of time working on it." He patted his hair down in an attempt to fix it.

"I apologize, Primarch Schneider. I did not realize we were attending a gala event this weekend."

Getting out of his chair, the boy made his way down the street in the direction of the house. Leaving a few chits for the drinks, Garrus took Ismene by the hand and followed the human. His head was at the ground and he was kicking at rocks while his sister chatted with Garrus. After ten minutes of hearing the child chatter away about what she liked on the movie. Her attention was grabbed by the sight of a familiar pair of blue tinged women.

"LIARA!" Shouted Ismene and she ran toward the asari.

Her attention drawn away from her partner. The doctor smiled and scooped the girl into her arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Kevin said nothing and trudged along slowly. Garrus keeping the slow pace with the boy much to the annoyance of the Matriarch who was in the company of the doctor.

"What kicked him in the quads?"

"Dad!"  
"What? The kids got a stick further up his ass than your turian friend."

Liara rolled her eyes and shook her head. "What are you all up to?"

"We just got out of a vid and it was incredible!" The girl swung her arms so quick that Liara barely had a chance to dodge the plates on the girls knuckles.

"Well it must have been quite the showing." She gave Garrus a knowing smile and he looked at the ground with small cough.

"What about you two?" He asked as he kept his eyes on the boy who was digging his heel into the street. "Out enjoying the day together before sending me off world?"

Liara laughed and Aethyta shrugged. "Who knows, maybe I'll dust off my old fatigues and join you in a bout of stress relief."

Garrus could have sworn he saw Liara's face grow three shades of blue darker and he chuckled and raised his hands. "I appreciate the offer Aethyta but I think I'm going to spend tonight with the kids and a good book." The meaning of the phrase was not lost on Liara he eyed him knowingly. Scratching his neck he steered the conversation back toward the food. "Though you're more than welcome to join us for dinner. I've actually become a somewhat decent cook. Though whether or not I can pull off asari cuisine has yet to be seen."

Liara couldn't help but laugh and smiled. "I'd enjoy that Garrus. Why not make it a bit of a group dinner. I'm certain James would love an excuse to get Tali away from the files she and Kasumi are trying to decode."

"I don't want you there."

The words came from Kevin who was now glaring at Liara though it was Aethyta who responded.

"Excuse me you little punk? I know you just didn't talk to us that way?"

The boy stood his ground against the millennium old female and shouted "I did so! I don't want you there! I don't want any of you there! Not even Tali and James!" Before Aethyta could say anything he kicked her in the shin and ran off leaving the matriarch cursing while Garrus growled and looked at Liara who nodded.

"Thanks." was all he said before sprinting after the boy.

For such a small kid, Kevin was awfully fast. If it wasn't for his height being able to cover so much ground he was certain he would have lost the kid but it didn't take long for him to catch up to the boy. Reaching out he grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and yanked him back a little too hard making the boy fall to the ground with a small scream. A few people came up to help Kevin but luckily they were soldiers from the base and left Garrus to it after confirming that every thing was okay.

Pulling the boy by the collar of his shirt next to the door of a store he allowed the boy to punch him as he screamed. "I don't want them at home! It's their fault!" Garrus took the blows, even the ones to the face with patience his father would have been proud of. Until the boy finally tired out and sobbed. "It's all their fault!"

Taking a few deep breaths, Garrus placed his hands on the boy's shoulders and asked calmly, "What's their fault?"

"It's their fault you won't be coming back!" The boy wiped the tears away as he sobbed. "It's just like when Mom left. She said she had to go on a mission and she'd be back soon but she never came back."

The boy choked back sobs and tried to keep the tears from flowing but he couldn't and they ran down his red cheeks. His eyes were puffy like he'd seen Shepard's get when the stress got to be too much for her. Feeling his mandibles twitch slowly Garrus gave the boys shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Kevin, that was different. We were at war and your mother left to protect you so you could be safe."

"But they attacked the ship and that was supposed to be safe and look what happened to Dad! He's gone and you had to take us in because nobody else wanted us because our family was a bunch of freaks."

Garrus was unsure of what to say but he took a deep breath and said. "Kevin if nobody wanted you then why did I promise your dad I would take you in."

The boy screwed up his face. "Because he was going to die and Mom told me you don't break promises made when someone is about to die. She said the spirits would never favor you and because you broke a sacred oath and a good person no matter if they're a turian or a human unless it is something that will cause great harm to the people."

That was something Garrus never expected to hear from the boy. The boy seemed to be all human and yet he'd just stated an odd mixture of human and turian beliefs. He finally felt like he was beginning to understand the boy.

"That may be true, Kevin. But how long did I spend time with you and your sister sitting by your dad's bedside? And on the days I was there and they let him leave his bed wasn't I with you? I played cards with the three of you or pushing him for you in his wheelchair while you and your sister played?"

Kevin nodded but spat out. "You felt sorry for him."

Garrus wanted to slap him for that comment but took another deep breath and felt his patience return. "Maybe I did feel a bit of that but he became my friend because of what's happened in our lives. And I keep the oaths I make to my friends. And I was happy enough to take you in because I care about you and your sister. "

Wiping his nose the boy mumbled. "Dad said you bonded with a human. Like he did with, Mom."

The turian smiled at him. "I did, and I made her a promise that I wasn't able to keep. And won't be able to keep for a long time. But until I can, I'm going to make sure that I keep my promises to you and your sister happy. I'm not your dad, but I'm your friend and I want to make sure you and her can live a good life. And that means leaving you every now and then. But I promise you, I will call you as often as I can and I will always come home."

He looked up, his eyes still red but the area around his eyes had decided to deflate a little. "Promise?"

Garrus put up his smallest finger. He'd seen the two of them do it a few times before. It was a human thing, but he knew it meant a great deal to them and if this helped the boy trust him some more than he was all for doing something so childish. The boy looked at the hand, fear and trepidation in his eyes but after a minute he locked fingers with Garrus and smiled before wrapping his arms around the turian's neck.

Shocked for a moment, Garrus slowly wrapped his arms around the human boy and felt a small purr gently leave his throat. After a moment, Garrus gently pushed the boy away and wiped away the final tears from his wards cheeks. "Are you feeling better or are you going to kick me just like you kicked Aethyta."

"I'm feeling better."

"Good, because I've had enough hitting for the day." Standing up he stuck out his hand and the boy took it.

As they began to walk back to the three women, the sun shining bright above them the turian looked down at the human and said, "You know you're going to have to apologize?"

Looking up at him with his brown eyes Kevin whined. "Do I have to?"

Chuckling Garrus nodded, "I'm afraid so. There was no reason for you to talk to them that way or kick her."

Huffing the boy said. "I guess you're right."

After a couple of minutes in silence the boy asked. "Garrus can I ask you a couple of questions?"

Garrus snapped his fingers mentally, the boy had prevented him from teasing him about already asking a question, but he nodded all the same. "What's on your mind?"

He looked down to see the boy chewing on his lip as he scratched his chin. After a minute he looked up with slightly red, innocent eyes and asked, "What's a 'quad?'"


	15. Chapter 15

So it seems 14 was big hit. With how I rewrote the end to 13 and wrote 14...the fluidity is MUCH better I think. And I do have experience in raising kids. Been raising my niece for 5 years so yeah some of my experiences in that will be slipping into Garrus dealing with the kids. And we get a bit more Daddy Garrus before getting back into the swing of things. It's a short chapter though. Next one will require a little more thought.

Chapter 15

The air was knocked out of him. His body lurched forward as he gasped loudly at the sudden weight of the two children on his stomach. Coughing loudly he heard them laughing as he groaned a bit. He was having his first real nights sleep in the past couple of days. But he guessed it was due to him getting his procedure done before leaving on the mission. Solana and even James had taken over caring for the kids over the past couple of days while he recovered. Every now and then he was woken up by one of them bringing him something to eat or drink and comforting him while he ate in a daze. Despite the occasional noise of the kids fighting or playing he found it much more comfortable with their noise and occasional mess than the sterility of the hospital.

Yet, having a sudden eighty pounds dropped on your stomach unexpectedly had a way of ruining a peaceful slumber and a punishment was necessary. As the kids giggled he growled loudly and snatched them by the collars of their pajamas and pulled them to him and tickled them. They screamed loudly for help but none came.

"No one is going to help you. So you better give up." He chuckled as the kids attempted to run from him. He'd dulled his talons the night before but he was still careful with them. Especially Kevin after the last time he attempted this. Finally after a few minutes, the kids gave up and collapsed onto the bed breathing loudly and giggling as Garrus raised his arms cheering in victory.

Peeking her head around the corner, Solana shook her head at her brother's cheering. "Congratulations, Garrus. You have just saved the galaxy from a toddler and an elementary school student."

He gave her a chuckle. "Any day I can win against them in the morning is a good day. Though I take it you were the one who gave them the idea to ambush me while I was sleeping."

She raised her hands and shook her head. "I had no prior knowledge of the incident that just transpired. However, I did have my suspicions when they began whispering at the table. However, there is the matter of you two being punished if you do not clean up the mess you made at the table."

The kids looked at Garrus who narrowed his eyes and began reaching for them. They let out screams of protest and ran out of the bedroom with Solana hot on their heels. The clamoring of feet on the ground and the clanking of dishes told him the kids were in a hurry so he thought he'd best get prepared as well.

He was leaving that day and looking at the clock he found he only had two hours before the final briefing and he wanted to have one final talk with them. After cleaning himself he headed into the common area to find Kevin reading a data pad while Ismene was sitting on the couch while Solana touched up her markings.  
"Glad to see they've been behaving for you."

Solana laughed as she finished the application of the paint. When it was done, Ismene bolted from the couch, her teddy bear clutched under her arm as she pulled on Garrus' shirt. "Did she do a good job?"

He bent down and took the girls face in his hands and looked over the markings. He watched as her mandibles twitched in anticipation and he gave her a smile. "Well, she didn't do as good a job as me, but I think you look just as beautiful as when I do them." Ismene giggled and rubbed the bottom of his chin with her head before heading down the hallway to get dressed.

"You're going to make her head as big as a Urz's." Mumbled Kevin from his spot on the couch. Since their talk, he'd become a bit more open with Garrus, but he retained his mouth. Still he couldn't help but notice the small twitch of a grin on the boys lips when he said it.

"At least she won't smell as bad."

From the corner, Garrus heard the varren grunt his disapproval at the comment while the boy laughed.

Walking over to him, Garrus looked at the data pad. "Something for school?"

The boy nodded, "Yep. The teacher wants us to have two pages on this subject by the Tuesday." He held up the data-pad and Garrus flipped through the series of pictures and words. "It's supposed to be about what life is like right now on Earth for us."

Sitting down on the couch, Garrus let the boy crawl into his lap and he pointed as he pointed at the pictures. "This is our house." He flipped through the pictures again and pointed at a picture that Garrus could only guess was their bedroom. He could see the small urn that contained Reese on a high shelf in the room. He let the boy flip through each picture and describe what they were and when he got to the last picture he saw a mass of people with two shorter ones holding hands with what could only be Garrus and a human woman still he felt the need to ask.

"Kevin who are these four."

The boy looked over his shoulder with an accusatory look and said. "That's us, Garrus. All of us and your friends from the Normandy."

Garrus laughed and pointed at the picture. "I meant who is the woman holding hands with Ismene and myself."

Rolling his eyes he got off the couch and ran to the cupboard and pulled out a small photo frame. "It's you and your mate, Commander Shepard. I mean that is her right?"

Taking the picture, Garrus smiled sadly at it. It was the only picture they had of the two of them together. They'd taken it on Rannoch shortly after they'd destroyed the Reaper. Shepard's face was covered in dirt and she had a few bruises showing up on her face her hair was a mess as it always was after a mission and it was blowing gently in the wind. Garrus was missing a few chunks of armor and had suffered some wounds as well. The could see the drying blood on his arms where a geth had gotten him before the virus upload.  
It wasn't the happiest moment in their lives, Legion had sacrificed himself and many innocent people had lost their lives. But like Tuchanka, despite the loss of life, they had a glimmer of hope to keep them going that made all the pain and suffering worth it.

"Are you okay, Garrus?" He looked up from the picture at the boy. Concern in his eyes as he pointed at his guardian. "You're crying? Did I do something wrong?"

Wiping the tears Garrus shook his head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. I was just remembering."

"I can take her out if you want?"

"Why would you do that?"

The boy looked at him confused. "The picture made you sad. I don't want it to make you sad. So if you want me to I'll take her out of the picture."

His throat vibrated in laughter and he patted the boy on the head. "You keep her in. It'll make me even more sad if you take her out."

"Are you sure?" His voice was still uncertain but Garrus ruffled his hair.

"Yeah I'm sure. You took the time to put someone important to me in so why would I want you to do that?" Kevin's lips parted revealing his two freshly missing teeth. Garrus felt his mandible twitching in a smile. "Now go and get dressed. We have to leave soon."

The boy headed down the hallway his feet thundering in their usual rhythm. Leaning back into the couch he heard his sister laugh and growled at her.

"Don't growl at me, Garrus Vakarian. You're getting soft since you took those kids in."

There was a laughter in her voice, but Garrus acted like he didn't notice and stormed out of the house with a growl. "I'll be in my workshop." He slammed the door lightly for added effect and headed into his workshop. He went through his guns one final time. The Vindicator was in working order long with this sniper rifles. The pistol was the only one that he was concerned about. While he had faith in his skills, though sometimes faith wasn't enough and reality would rear its ugly head.

With a heavy sigh he laid the pistol on the gun table and equipped his armor. He hadn't needed to wear it for awhile, but he finally felt complete with its familiar weight on his shoulders. Sliding the guns into place, their clicking brought a feeling of serenity that even time with the kids couldn't bring. Holstering the pistol, he grabbed the case holding the Black Widow and after locking his workshop he entered the house to find Kevin dressed in a modified children's turian outfit. It was formal attire from what Garrus could see and from the markings meant that his mother was rather high on the meritocracy. The hat on the other hand was his Father's and he was grinning broadly while Ismene stood in a set of robes like the ones Solana would wear to formal functions as a child. Her bear was dressed up again as well, and for once Garrus didn't feel a cold sensation down his spine, but that didn't make him any less wary of the stuffed animal.

Solana was dressed less lavishly than the kids she was wearing her normal clothes those Garrus' nose did pick up a hint of something extra in the air.

Stopping in his tracks he gave them a curious look. "What is going on?"

Kevin snapped a salute and loudly declared. "Following your orders to get ready!"

Ismene copied her brother, though a little less accurately and the bear nearly fell out of her grasp but she didn't seem to mind since the smile never left her face as she shouted. "Yeah!"

Garrus scratched the back of his neck. He only imagined what the others would say when they caught sight of the kids decked out in such clothing. He could only imagine what James would say, even worse Jack, and then there was always Joker. Garrus felt lucky the pilot was off testing the new ships.

Still he couldn't help but smile at the kids willingness to make him look good. Swinging the gun case over his shoulder he smirked at them and headed toward the door where Urz was waiting for them. When he opened the door the beast bolted for the car and the kids ran out into the sunlight smirks on their faces as they waved him forward.

As he watched them, the sunlight reflecting off of Ismene's plates and Kevin's smile beckoning him. He felt like things were finally beginning to turn around.


	16. Chapter 16

ABOUT FUCKING TIME I GOT THIS CHAPTER TO WORK PROPERLY! This chapter is my writers block chapter. the one I basically had the most trouble writing because of well stress from the home life and everything else but things are gonna start coming together (finally) and well I honestly think this is the WEAKEST chapter to come out yet. Sorry guys for all the frustration yesterday.

I blame software more than anything else.

Also I started a group on Deviantart under this name called Transgender-Shepards...all Shepards are welcome but seeing as how there are some people who've actually played the game with such a thought in mind I thought why not have a group based around it. Seeing as how..well Leela is the inspiration to it.

Chapter 16

He knew he shouldn't have felt optimistic about the mission. Every time he felt good about something it always ended on a sour note. From his time at C-Sec up until, he stopped himself from dwelling on that subject about that and instead forced himself to focus on the mission. Sure, they could have gone back through the conduit but after a heated discussion with the people in charge on the other end, they decided to forge ahead and see if there was any merit to the initial images the drones had sent a few days after their arrival.

They were over a week into the mission and only people that Garrus wasn't prepared to blast out of the Mako's canon were Doctor Chakwas, EDI, and Samara.

The Justicar had been the biggest surprise of the mission. Liara was staying behind to help Tali and Kasumi with maintaining the systems so Samara was coming along as back up. She looked as she always did. Pristine, deadly, and the only person who know the details of her survival were Hannah. And truth be told many of them were too scared to even ask including Garrus. And now she was off on a scouting mission with Urz and to find an available path through the mountains and their objective.

"So should we have taken a left or right at Albuquerque, Scars?"

Garrus shot a glance at James who was sitting on the hood of the Mako. With the turian's eyes on him, the human quieted down and went back to scraping the final bits of food out of the can he'd been eating from. Though usually on good terms with the human, Garrus was finding his patience wearing thin seeing as to how they had no idea what planet they were on or if they were walking into a death trap.

They supposed to have been transported to Thessia as it was one of the few council planets that had yet to receive an investigation party or any attempt at contacting what was on the other side of their conduit. So, the powers that be had sent out an investigation party and though preliminary reports had shown that the planet appeared to be safe. Though appearances could be deceiving and it was for this purpose that Garrus and his team been chosen to make contact with the people and had been given Samara as an ambassadorial aid.

The only problem was, something happened in the programming just before their jump and now they had no idea what planet they were on and after landing, they had stayed next to the conduit for orders while the drones they were given did a preliminary scan of their surroundings. It was four days until a drone came back with any sign of civilization.

When they first received the news, they activated the prototype Q.E.C that had been installed into the Mako and made the call to Hannah.

"And what's the structural integrity of the area like?" The admiral inquired after a deep inhalation from her latest cigarette her gaze locked on EDI.

"From what my processors have been able to make of the data, the buildings appear safe and possibly inhabited." Her voice was as calm and as calculating as ever.

"Inhabited? By what?" There was an uncharacteristic hint of worry in her voice.

Garrus leaned back in his chair and looked at EDI. She had procured a third body. This one was covered in synthetic flesh and made to look like she was what the humans called, "Asian." Her hair was jet black and her eyes the same color. When Garrus asked why she wasn't in her usual body she simply said, "For my own safety."

He had laughed at her response. But he had been silent as he listened to EDI A.I.'s response to the admirals inquiry.

"We are unsure, Rear-Admiral. The planet appears capable of supporting levo-based life forms. From preliminary testing of the local flora, with the right preparation we have discovered many possible food sources although it will take some time to figure out those methods. As for the buildings they look similar to Turian or possibly Salarian design; prefabricated for easy erection and transport. However there is one building that seems to be more permanent and our drones are unable to gain any form of access.

The admiral's brow furrowed in concentration, reminding Garrus of Shepard when she began planning a mission. He could only guess how many plans were going through the womans head. After a moment, she turned to the Turian. "Garrus? Any thoughts on what might be in there?"

Shaking his head he leaned forward,. "No clue. I've checked every record I was given of classified military operations from the Turian military and this one is not in any registration. Also, from what EDI says, this one isn't in Human, Salarian, or Asari. All we know is that we're in the Terminus systems and if there's any one with a ship near by. it's reason enough for alarm."

The admiral chewed on her lip and gave a heavy sigh after a few moments, "Very well, take every precaution and send multiple drones out feeding information back to EDI. " Turning to the A.I. she said, "That is your primary responsibility. I want that data scanned and any weaknesses made exploitable. If possible, try and see if it's transmitting any hidden frequencies. Garrus, you and the others are to get to whatever they picked up and investigate. I want a base camp set up two miles out within the best vantage point possible. No lights unless you are in the Mako upon your arrival and night time scouting missions only."

"Not a problem, Admiral. Hopefully you won't need to send a rescue party after us." Garrus' mandibles twitched in a smile.

Hannah laughed at his comment but her voice was cold as she said, "Garrus, if you end up needing one. Don't even bother sending out the S.O.S."

That had been five days ago, making their total time on the mission nine days long. Two days longer than originally planned and by no means easier since they had been fighting their way through thick jungle and craggy cliffs since leaving their point of entry. While the Mako was great for open plains and hills, heavy forest proved to be another Achilles heel for the tank.

Thanks to her biotics and centuries of experience they figured Samara, along with taking Urz with her, had the best chance of scouting ahead for any possible signs of danger. The problem was, she had now been gone for two days and Garrus and she hadn't kept her promise to keep in constant contact. He knew she could take care of herself, but even if she had lived for two-thousand years two days without contact was never a good sign no matter what

Night fell and James was caught up in a game of cards with EDI. Her eyes were glowing as they processed the incoming data from the drones they had sent out. Though Garrus was certain she was possibly calculating the odds of her hand compared to James'.

Meanwhile, Garrus was caught up in a journal again.

_Elysium was…there's no way to describe it. The Blitz has been the worst mission I've faced so far. My squad was lucky compared to the others I heard about. I took a few bullets and ended up in the hospital for a few days. They punctured a lung. My chest is just now starting to not hurt when I breathe. My hip ended up getting dislocated too. We lost a couple of people as well. Ramirez and Kilsa were taken out a couple of days before the end. We still haven't been able to recover their bodies. As the mission leader, I had to contact their families. If I get my own command, I don't think I'll ever get used to telling a parent their child is dead; but, it comes with the job and I'm thankful to have at least been able to know them._

I've been given leave before I receive my next orders and I'm discharged tomorrow. I think I'll just stay on the Citadel for awhile. Bask in the "peace" that is supposed to exist there. Complete bullshit if you ask me, but I heard from Mom and Dad that they'll try and meet me there. It'll be good to see them again. It's been two years since we saw each other without a vid chat and I'm pretty sure they're going to want to know what happened with Mike. They liked him but, he had other plans and other women. I think a night on the town is in order. Maybe find a bottle and a dancer to get lost in for a few hours.

As he prepared to turn the page, Garrus heard something rustle and heard the familiar clicking of guns. EDI made her way into the Mako to prep the cannons while Garrus and James equipped their helmets and activated their thermal imaging. Flecks of red and white could be seen in the darkness. Animals were skittering around hoping to get home and avoid the night predators. They had been lucky enough to avoid them and from what the drones had caught of them from the sky they figured it would take at least three Mako's to kill just one of the beasts.

It's amazing how much and how little a person could see through the scope of a rifle. But Garrus could see everything. His ears caught the sound of the animals in the trees and his eyes gauged the subtle rustling of the tree branches. Each time he moved he made the most minor adjustment to his stance in preparation for what was waiting on the other side of the trees. Raising his hand, he made a few gestures to James who signaled back that he was all clear on his side.

"EDI, anything on the scanners?" his gun moved in a gentle sweeping motion as he spoke.

"Yes, it seems we have a large life form heading our way. Shall I fire a warning shot?"

"Negative. EDI keep the guns prepped just in case and shut off all unnecessary lighting. If we got something coming at us, chances are they may have company not too far behind."

"I'm patched in and have the secondary guns on standby. I would advise not moving from your current positions. Also I recommend lowering your position by four inches James. If you do not, I will end up painting the trees a rather unsettling color of red."

"Jesus, I forgot how cold you are Circuits."

"I prefer the term, logical," EDI retorted. Though there was the hint of a laugh in her voice.

"Cut the chatter you two. James do what she says and stick to standard rounds. I don't want to give anything else out prowling tonight a reason to come after us."

"Roger that." Responded the human as he released the safety on his rifle.

"Garrus, I have finished prepping the Mako's guns and I am synched with the targeting system and am prepared to open fire on your command."

"Copy that, EDI."

They sat there, patiently , guns sweeping the perimeter. The only noise in Garrus' ears was the sound of the animals and the gentle whirring of the guns. Finally, out of the forest came a predominantly red blob and of red and other colors and without provocation, a loud bark came from the blob on the left. It separated from its partner as it bounded towards Garrus.

"Son of a bitch!" shouted the Turian as the lumbering form slammed him against the side of the Mako.

He could hear EDI laughing in his ear along with James while Urz attempted to lick him through the casing of his helmet. Turning off his infrared Garrus pushed the Varren off of him. The exterior lights shot back on bathing the Asari in a bright light and she removed her own helmet as Doctor Chakwas exited the Mako with her first aid kit.

"Well it's about time, Samara. You've had us worried to death." Came Karin's voice with a relieved sigh.

The Asari chuckled as the doctor began scanning her, "It was not my intention to go so long without communications. I was delayed and it took me some time to get myself back on the right path."

Tutting, the Human woman let out a happy sigh after her examination. "Well, save for your blood pressure being a little high due to lack of proper food, you seem in excellent condition. Come into the Mako. It shouldn't take long for me to prepare something for you to eat."

The Asari shook her head and gently patted the Human on the shoulder. "If it is all the same to you, Doctor Chakwas, I believe my meal can wait until we are on our way again and I've talked with Garrus."

"Fine," the doctor huffed and wandered back to the Mako muttering, "I'm sent on this mission to keep after your health and what do I get…." her voice trailed off in a series of complaints about the carelessness of soldiers.

When she was gone, Garrus pushed Urz away and climbed to his feet. "You really did have us worried. What the hell happened?"

Samara held her hands out and waved at something in the trees. As they watched the branches begin to rustle, all Garrus and James could do was swear as a familiar large, four legged green creature stepped into the tank's view.


	17. Chapter 17

Thanks to a reader for actually giving me an idea for this. Sorry Igike...you were wrong.

Chapter 17

"But you were supposed to be home already. You promised," pouted the small human face at the opposite end of the galaxy.

Garrus rubbed his temple as he watched Ismene and Kevin glare at him through the video connection on his visor. They'd stopped for a break in a nearby cave thanks to Garrus's vision beginning blur. EDI sat on a rock next to him, her eyes were glowing a deep blue as she ran the Q.E.C drive in her body while Chakwas ran a scan on him.

"I know I promised, but things aren't going according to plan. Remember when we talked before I left. I told you that I might not be able to make it home in time," he gently reminded them

Kevin's eyes narrowed at him for a moment before the boy walked away from the screen. He could hear a familiar voice in the background while Ismene held up her bear.

"Garrus, can you say goodnight to my teddy?"

He growled at the request. The face on the bear was bothering him again but it was important to the child. Taking a deep breath he let out a sigh. "Goodnight, Bear."

Ismene made the bear wave to the older Turian. "Goodnight!" she shouted, mandibles twitching happily; as she rushed off the screen.

From the front of the cave he could hear a laugh but paid it no mind as a human woman stepped into view. Her hair down around her shoulders and a tee-shirt with some odd logo of a triangle shooting a pyramid out adorned her chest.

"Are they behaving?" he asked cautiously. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but at that age he and Solana got into more of their fair share of trouble on occasion. He was already seeing signs of similar issues in his future and was hoping to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.

"They've been rather well behaved today. Kevin got excellent marks on that project of his and Ismene is doing rather well with her schooling," she reported.

He heard the same amount of pride in her voice that she had when she talked about her daughter. He was thankful that she had agreed to take care of them when she had the time, especially when it came to Kevin.

Something told Garrus that the boy needed a bit more human interaction at home and with the members of the Normandy crew all leaving the planet, the only one he could turn to was Hannah. She had more than stepped up to the challenge.

"Garrus, did you hear me?"

Coming back from his thoughts, the Turian shook his head. "Sorry about that, Hannah. Can you repeat the question?"

She shook her head and lit up a cigarette. She exhaled it slowly from her nose and chuckled, "I was just making sure my report from James and Samara are accurate about your guides. I'm finding it a little hard to believe that we've been so lucky in our endeavors to get the galaxy back in order. It's causing some unrest on the Citadel arms. Not to mention the attacks on the supply depots."

The Turian groaned loudly as something pierced the back of his neck. Turning around he saw Chakwas walking away with a needle containing a small amount of his blood to test for extra spinal fluids.

"Everything all right, Vakarian?"

He watched the admiral blow out another puff of smoke. Her eyes filled with professional concern.

"I'm fine, Hannah and yes the reports are accurate," his voice was little more than a growl but Chakwas wasn't paying any attention to him. Taking a deep breath he added, "Samara was lucky enough to find some survivors that have been living out of the compound we saw. The buildings that were discovered, the prefabs, were brought with them. The only one they didn't build was the building we can't access although they promised us a look inside once we arrived and got settled."

The cigarette twitched in her hand. She had grown quiet and ignored her cigarette. Her eyes flicked back and forth while her mouth moved silently. This he had never seen before and he knew that if she was ignoring a cigarette she was lost in deep thought.

Finally, after several minutes she took a deep drag and finished off what little remained.

"I'm going to trust your judgment, Vakarian. EDI, make sure you keep your communications line open with me and the Mako. I'm prepping an extraction team just in case," she ordered.

"Of course, Hannah," said EDI despite the lack of movement from her lips, "I have also taken the liberty of transmitting our findings to Liara and the others every two hours. I am also watching our current companions biometrics. They appear to be on the 'up and up', as your daughter once put it. However, after much research and experience I know that organics are capable of fooling many forms of interrogation."

"Just keep a close eye on them EDI. If possible, hack their communications."

The admiral had removed another cigarette from its pack and put in between her lips. At that moment they could hear the kids begin yelling about something making the admiral roll her eyes.

"You two have a good night and keep me posted. As for me," she cracked her knuckles, "I'm going to go and put a stop to whatever your two hellions are up to."

The feed cut and EDI's eyes reverted to their standard appearance while Garrus felt the back of his neck. He felt a small bump from where the needle had entered, but when he drew back his hand he saw no blood and stood up with a happy sigh. His balance was back and his head felt normal. He was lucky, but knew he'd end up having to take his usual rest in a few days.

He was prepared to ask EDI something when a voice from the front of the cave asked. "Tentative. Are you prepared to head back to the camp?" Garrus turned to see their guide who was making grooves in the dirt with its giant feet.

"We'll be heading out soon, Aki."

The elcor stopped moving her feet and nodded. "Appreciative. Thank you, Garrus. I recommend spending no longer than ten minutes more resting."

"Why ten minutes? I thought we weren't in any immediate danger?" Chakwas looked up from her omni-tool; eyes filled with worry.

She had never been the same since being abducted by the Collectors which was one of the reasons Shepard had opted for Doctor Michel instead of her old friend.

"We'll be fine, Doc. Aki here just needs to get back before the morning. We have shit that needs to get done and we've been gone for four days dealing with you people. Spirits knows what will happen to us if we aren't back by the time I told my lieutenant." The speaker took a swig from the canteen at her side and sighed, the earrings attached to her mandibles swinging gently in the early morning sunlight.

Garrus felt a flood of annoyance wash over his body, but he calmed it quickly as the female walked into view. Rixa, a Turian female, had no clan and very little concern for anyone else despite her responsibilities as head of security for the base camp they were heading to. She had plates like Ismene, charcoal black, but covered in chinks from where her recklessness had gotten her injured and both mandibles were home to dangling human earrings.

When she stepped back into the cave, Garrus felt his nostrils flare as she walked past Urz and kicked dirt at him. The varren hissed but she just laughed while Garrus let out an audible growl.

"Is there something you want to say to me, Vakarian?" she asked placing pistol in its holster and got into a defensive stance her blue eyes eager for a fight. "If so than say it with your fists because I've been itching to go a round or two with you"

"Worried. Rixa, please. I must remind you that we do not have enough medical supplies required for the level of injuries you tcan inflict on one another."

Taking a few breaths Garrus allowed himself to deflate and gave Aki a smile.

"Don't worry, Aki. She wouldn't be able to handle me anyway."

He gave a low chuckle as he walked by Rixa tapping her left knee with the butt of his Valiant. Her leg quaked momentarily before she regained her balance and growled at him for being able to spot the weakness in her stance.

"Joyful. You have my thanks Garrus. I recommend we begin heading back. It is nearly dawn."

Without another word the group packed up their gear and followed the two new additions to the group. Although he could appreciate Rixa's zest for life; Garrus definitely preferred Aki. His initial sight of the Elcor covered in a large amount of leaves shocked him, he'd grown to enjoy her company over the past few days. The Elcor reminded him a lot of Chakwas, that they were both doctors, but that there was a certain matronly air that enveloped them them; protective of those they grew close to. In the case of Rixa, Garrus could only assume the Elcor tolerated her due to a mutual necessity for survival.

They walked along for another hour in silence. EDI and Chakwas took the occasional moment to gather plant samples for study once they were back on Earth. Rixa and Aki were leading the way when the sound of a crashing tree forced Garrus to grab Chakwas to him; quickly attempting to find cover while EDI initiated her Decoy program.

As the hologram continued forward, Aki and Rixa simply stepped aside as the trees in front of them fell to the ground with a dull thud. Turning around, Rixa looked at the group and snorted loudly before bursting into laughter.

"Chastising. Rixa, do not laugh at them. They did not know about the security measures."

Getting out from behind his cover, Garrus felt his mandibles flaring as he shouted, "What the hell do you think you're playing at?"

Rixa continued to laugh while Aki turned to explain.

"Sincerely. Our apologies, Garrus. You must understand that we had to keep our security measures secret until you arrived." The Elcor pawed the ground gingerly as she spoke.

He found it very difficult to keep calm with Rixa's laughter. The breathing techniques he'd learned from Thane two years ago to calm his nerves weren't working as they normally did. He felt what little control he had left leaving him when he saw what was making the noise appear.

It was an old model tank from Palaven. The name of the tank escaped him at the moment but it lumbered toward them slowly. Rixa looked genuinely happy to see it as she was bouncing on her feet and waving excitedly. It was most unsettling and infuriating at the same time.

"One of yours?" he growled as he put his sniper rifle in its holster.

The female turned to him, her mandibles twitching happily as she spoke, "You're damn right it is and I know who's in the driver's seat."

Garrus didn't even have time to get his next question out as the tank came to a stop just before crossing the barrier of trees and Rixa took off running for it. As she, arrived a smaller figure stepped out of the door and she tackled it. There was a scream and the two were rolling in the grass until coming to a rest at the end of the tank; Rixa on top of the figure, their foreheads pressed together.

Trying to make sense of her sudden change in attitude, Garrus noticed another tank. A Tomkah, pull up behind them with several heavily armed Turians, a couple of humans and, to the shock of Garrus and company, a number of Drell with a number of them pointing their weapons at Garrus.

"Garrus? What is going on?" came a soft voice from behind him.

Turning around he found Chakwas, standing a few feet behind him looking worried while EDI did her best to keep Urz under control.

He opened his mouth to answer, but couldn't. A series of red dots had appeared on his chest and he raised his hands in surrender and shouted, "I think I got the answer pointing right at me Doc!"


	18. Chapter 18

To be Whole Chapter 18

by *Mizutanitony

So chapter 18 of to be whole this is gonna be fun. Doing a repost because somehow the quotation marks went missing!  
pairing Garrus/Femshep  
Property is owned by bioware!

I've been watching the show "Spaced" so the humor in it is getting to me a little.

Chapter 18

"That's enough beauty sleep! Time to wake up and get to work you lazy sacks of shit!"

Garrus opened his eyes with a groan, praying that it had all been a dream, but his dream was instead a waking disappointment. Coughing loudly, he rolled out of his bunk and stood up with a loud groan as he watched the other people in his unit get out of their beds. At the entrance to their unit he could see Rixa standing there with a rifle cradled in one arm and a large steaming mug in her free hand. Mandibles twitching with amusement, she watched the rest of her squad grumble.

"Quit your bitching," shouted Rixa as she took another deep drink, "and get your asses ready by...HEY!"

The mug shattered as single shot rang out, followed by a multitude of clicks as the soldiers drew their sidearms; aiming at its origin. Loud chuckling came from the cot in the corner and they holstered their guns, grumbling louder.

"The hell's your problem? You want us to shoot you?" shouted a drell soldier, his pistol shaking violently.

The chuckling stopped as the owner rolled upright in his bunk and grunted loudly. His red eyes turned to the drell and spat a large amount of liquid on the floor.

"Try that with me and I'll be roasting your legs over a fire," he said growling and wiping the excess drool from his chin.

Pushing off his cot with a loud grunt, the krogan picked his shotgun up from its place on the floor.

"Where am I patrolling?"

"Relax Uruk," she replied, "You're heading out beyond the perimeter today."

"Does that mean I finally get to shoot something?" said the krogan chuckling loudly and squeezing the shotgun excitedly.

The eagerness in his voice made Garrus laugh which caught the krogan's attention.

"Something funny to you turian son of a bitch?"

Resting his gun hand on his pistol, Garrus chuckled, "You just remind me of a certain krogan I fought with. He had a certain...infantile attitude when it came to killing. Seemed more like playtime than anything else."

Uruk roared and prepared to rush, only to be stopped by Rixa who let off a round of her own just past the plates on his head.

"That's enough, Uruk," she said coolly as she ejected the steaming thermal clip, "We've got enough shit to deal with today without you injuring the rookies."

The krogan sneered and poked Garrus in the chest with the muzzle of his shotgun, "You're lucky I recognize her strength or you'd be nothing but breakfast for your varren by now."

Garrus laughed and puffed himself up; mandibles twitching slowly with each breath, "Do that and I'm sure the damage he does to your face will make this," Garrus running a finger along the length of his scars, "look like a flesh wound."

The two of them locked eyes; each challenging the other until the krogan gave a small chuckle and headed toward the door.

"You've got a quad, I'll give you that Turian." Uruk turned and gave him a hungry smirk, "Just make sure I don't catch you alone after dark."

When he was gone, the air grew lighter and the other soldiers let out loud sighs of relief. Garrus put the Paladin back in its holster and felt a shove forward by a heavy hand on his back. Garrus turned and chuckled nervously at the drell next to him. Sunan, was trained as a regular soldier rather than the styles Thane employed during his life but still just as deadly.

He was friendly, approachable, and a great deal grayer than his old friend. Garrus would have been on friendlier terms with him, if it wasn't for one thing.

"Don't get too friendly, Sunan," Rixa approached the smaller male and rested her chin on top of the drell's head, "He's mine."

The drell laughed and ran a hand along the back of her fringe making the female purr.

"Only for one purpose, Pet," His voice was a low rumble that echoed her purr making him laugh, "for everything else: you belong to me."

"I'll be in the mess hall when you've decided to get your hormones in check," Garrus groaned in disgust as he headed back to his bunk and removed his rifles.

Stepping out into the sunlight, he blinked a few times to get his bearings. The rest of the compound was already up and moving. The night watch was coming in from their shifts and talking with their replacements while heading off to the mess hall for some breakfast. The civilians were going about their chores; some heading off to tend to the fields they'd been able to cultivate, others doing repairs to the machinery. A few kids were running around playing before their morning lessons.

He, EDI, and Chakwas had been shocked at what they had been brought into. The footage the drones had brought back did the compound no justice. What they thought was an abandoned compound was actually a flourishing colony that was kept hidden using large canopies along and minor vehicle use to keep their energy signatures hidden.

As he walked toward the mess hall, he saw a group of kids playing with a black and white ball he'd seen Kevin play with a few times on Earth when he was lucky enough to pick him up from school. Watching them, he couldn't help but shake his head at the advantage some of the human children had over their alien counterparts but that soon changed when a couple of asari began using their biotics to their team's advantage.

Garrus was almost to the mess when a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"What's the problem this time?" Garrus asked, slightly annoyed. He hadn't eaten dinner last night and when he got hungry, he tended to become a bit more than charmingly disgruntled.

"You think you'd be a bit more appreciative of the male that decided to let you live," snorted a giant male turian.

His face was similar in coloring to Garrus' except with black markings striping each of his fringes and mandibles. On his back was a Scimitar shotgun, while in his hands he cradled his Revenant rifle like a mother feeding a newborn.

Antius was the last person Garrus wanted to see this morning. The turian was, for better or worse, the leader of the colony. A soldier of fortune, he'd made a name for himself running ops that even people like Hannah rarely survived. He was tough, experienced, and an ally worth having and an even worse enemy to have. It was no surprise that he'd decided to keep him, EDI, and Chakwas prisoner while waiting for a response from Earth.

To be fair to the older turian, Garrus respected him. He stuck by his principles and his small fleet had managed to keep the people they'd been hired to protect alive with limited resources. Though, like Aria, he was a business man. He wanted something in return as a gesture of good faith for allowing Garrus and the others to live and work in his colony while they waited for Hannah's response to Antius's request for supplies.

When they'd arrived at the base, many thought they might have been indoctrinated. The ships had to make emergency landings on the planet when the escort fleet they were a part of was attacked. As a result of the attack, they had to convert everything on the ships into tools of survival. Still, that didn't mean Garrus liked being used as a bargaining chip, but he figured this is what humans called karma, and it had come to bite him royally in the ass.

"Just spit it out, Antius. I'd like to get something in my stomach before dealing with your head of security for the next twelve hours," he snapped.

Laughing at the sniper's comfort, Antius bowed in deep mockery.

"Then by all means Councilor Vakarian, after you," the laugh in his throat was not unnoticed.

Suppressing the urge to slam his knee into his fellow turian's face, Garrus stomped past him; the laugh echoing in his ears. It was only a short walk to the mess hall. The sniper ordered his food and sat at the table, his fork tearing into the bits of food. The noise he was making earned him a few looks, but a quick glare had his objectors returning to their own meals. Hearing a chair scrape across the floor, Garrus looked up from his plate to see Antius watching him with accusing eyes.

Swallowing his latest mouthful, Garrus took a sip of water before growling, "What is it this time?"

Locking his fingers together, Antius rested his chin on the small shelf of digits and grumbled, "Your friends still have not responded to our requests and it's making some of my men a little twitchy."

Taking another bite, Garrus sat up and chewed. The rhythmic motion of his jaws slowly grinding the food in his mouth was rather soothing.

He swallowed and let out a satisfied sigh, "What is it you want me to do about it? You've cut off my communications with them and -"

"That's bullshit Vakarian," hissed the older male. This got the attention of a few of the off duty soldiers who took notice of the argument. With his peripheral vision, Garrus could see them getting out of their seats, he was prepared for a fight, but their movements were not lost to Antius.

"SIT DOWN!" snarled Antius. From the corner of his eye, Garrus could see the two drells, a human, and a batarian follow their boss' orders and return to their meal.

Turning his attention back to Garrus, Antius tried to keep his mandibles under control but their sporadic twitches did little to hide his frustration.

Taking a deep breath, Antius whispered, "Other than Aki and Rixa you and your Human doctor are the only people in this colony that know about your friend's real origins. I know for a fact that you used whatever is inside her to contact your friends on the other side of the conduit. If they have the supplies to send you here, than they have more than enough supplies to trade for your lives," he took a deep breath and Garrus heard fear lace the edge of the other male's voice as he whispered, "and I'm betting more than enough fire power to take on ours."

Garrus wished he could have given the older turian more credit on figuring out that much about Hannah and what was on the other side of the conduit, but he knew that anyone with half a brain could figure out even that much.

Sipping his water once again, Garrus let out a frustrated sigh, "I was trying not to rouse any suspicions, Antius."

His peripheral vision noticed several staring eyes. Ignoring them, he lowered his voice to match the other male's.

"If EDI had heard back she would have informed me. However," his voice became a low chuckle, "I wouldn't put it past Hannah to rally her troops due to your overly aggressive extortion tactics."

He could see Antius' eyes flick in thought. His mandibles twitched slowly for a few moments before standing up and growling.

"Tomorrow, 1200 hours. If I do not hear back, I send them a message that will make them respond."

He waved at the four soldiers that he snapped at earlier and the rhythmic stomping of their feet was the only noise inside the mess hall.

Feeling his appetite fade, Garrus drained his water just as Chakwas appeared from her night shift working in the hospital with Aki. After their arrival they had been allowed temporary access into the heavily fortified building. Antius and his crews had set up the ground level as a makeshift hospital. While not the cleanest place to perform emergency triage, it worked for their daily uses and the colony seemed quite pleased to have another doctor around that didn't require the use of a mech to help with even the most basic procedures.

Still, something about it gnawed at Garrus. Chakwas was far from her normally talkative self since her first night of work with Aki. He knew she took her oath of doctor/patient confidentiality, but there was something different about this, he was certain of it.

When she sat down in front of him, he gave her a warm twitch of his mandibles and she smiled back.

"Pleasant morning, wouldn't you say?"

He shrugged at her inquiry and said, "It would have been much better without Uruk threatening me again and the fact that Sunan is fine with Rixa attempting to steal my genetic material from me against my will."

Chakwas snorted into her food and wiped a bit of spit from her mouth making Garrus growl.

"I'm sorry Garrus," she apologized while choking back a bit of laughter, "you have to admit you are quite the catch."

Taking a bite of his now lukewarm meal, his teeth wrestled with the now rubbery bit of meat, but he swallowed it all the same, "She's not for me, Karin."

Sipping her tea, Chakwas let out a sigh, "That may be, Garrus but what about Kevin and Ismene?"

Garrus let out a deep breath, his mandibles flexing slowly.

"Are you suggesting that I simply choose someone just so that they can stay home and raise them while I do this?"

"I am suggesting no such thing, Garrus," snapped Karin, "but those kids need a little more than being shuffled between your friends and wondering what's going to happen to them if you don't come back."

"I know that Karin!" he growled loudly and pushed away from the table. "I don't need you or anyone else to tell me what to do with my kids."

The last thing he saw was Karin staring at him with her mouth slightly agape.

Out in the morning sun, Urz came rushing at him, a small stream of kids chasing him. Wondering what the problem was, Garrus saw that they had tied something to his tail. He couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Urz actually looking scared and when the beast cowered behind him, the children all came to a sudden stop several feet from the turian nervous looks on their faces.

"All right, who did it?" he demanded from them with a heavy tone.

There was a small murmur within their ranks and after a moment a drell child that looked no older than ten and a human girl stepped forward their eyes lowered to the ground.

"It was our fault, sir. We thought it'd be funny." said the drell, a girl from what he could tell due to the pitch of her voice.

Bending down, Garrus removed his knife and cut at the string that was wrapped around his varren's tail. After calming the creature, he glowered at them.

"Don't do it again. He's not a plaything. He's a former pit fighting champion and can be very dangerous if you handle him wrong."

The kids all mumbled an apology. Letting out a sigh, Garrus waved them away with an annoyed grunt, "Just get to class."

There was a stampede of retreating feet. He looked down at Urz whose tail was waving happily up at him. His mandibles twitched in a smile, "Come on, let's get this day over with."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19...huzzah...okay now off to reading you little scamps.

"You see anything?" the voice called up.

Garrus nearly fell from the branch he was perched on as Rixa's voice cut into his head. He was having another headache and the sudden high pitched shrill the female used served only to intensify it.

Taking a couple of breaths, he shook his head down at her.

"No, I don't, so please stop with the yelling," he bit out.

"Fuck you, Vakarian!" she snapped back, kicking the tree; the leaves rustling with each attack.

Gripping the branch tightly with his thighs, Garrus looked down at her and laughed, "Not until Aki gets rid of that scale itch Sunan was telling me about!"

Her foot stopped mid-kick as she glared up at him, "How do you know about that?"

"When you know how to be quiet you can learn a lot of things. So, if you would be so kind as to stay away from Urz, it would be much appreciated," he grunted as he prepared for his descent, nearly knocked from it by another powerful kick from Rixa; cursing obscenities that even Garrus was unfamiliar with.

Making sure his equipment was secure; he couldn't help but think that Antius had some sort of ulterior motive sending him out with Rixa.

Generally, the hunting duties were given to larger teams due to the size of the prey they were sent to catch. Garrus had seen a few of the animals on this planet and figured it was the Antius' idea of a sick joke.

Climbing down the tree, he landed with a soft thud on the ground and Urz came bounding up with a small bird-like creature clenched in his teeth. Its feet dangled lifelessly as the varren's head jerked in Garrus' direction symbolizing the creature had caught it for the turian.

"Good job, Urz," he praised giving the creature a fond pat on the head as he took the prize, "That's a very good job," he cooed making the beast growl contently.

"Oh spirits," Rixa groaned in disgust at the affection the varren was receiving. "Will you quit praising the fucking mongrel? All he did was catch a bird. We have more important things to get done and I want to be back by sun down."

Urz snapped at her but she paid him no mind and hit the ignition on her vehicle before heading further into the valley.

Giving Urz another pat on the head, Garrus set the bird inside the container on the back of his vehicle and starting his own engine and continued on to the next area.

The warm, muggy air felt good in his lungs as they rode through the field. The machines they were riding were modified recreational vehicles humans rode on Earth called "quads." When he'd first heard the word, he couldn't help his brain going to the most juvenile meaning of the word that he knew.

To his surprise, Rixa had actually chastised him and explained the purpose behind the name. Apparently, some humans still used wheels on vehicles of this nature for what they called, "offroading," which involved them driving these machines through treacherous terrain in a recreational fashion. When he learned of this function, Garrus was thankful that the wheels had been removed and the machines were now operated by a small eezo core and propulsion system that he was more familiar with.

It quickly became apparent to Garrus that vehicles like this were responsible for Shepard's abysmal driving skills.

After an hour of riding, Rixa signaled for them to stop. Pulling up next to her, he waited for Urz to settle next to him. He opened his canteen for a drink before pouring some into Urz's mouth, the varren's tongue lapping loudly at the water.

"Why did you we stop?" he asked, readjusting his helmet.

She remained silent for a moment, her head moving back and forth. Following her gaze, he scanned the horizon until she raised her hand and pointed at something in the distance.

"You think you can get a good shot from up there?"

Garrus knew the question was a challenge and laughed, "Get it in my sights and I'll drop it."

Ten minutes later, Garrus was resting comfortably on his stomach; Widow aimed at the valley. The communications channel was quiet save for Rixa's shallow breathing. He waited patiently, his own breathing in synch with hers as he waited for her signal. Finally, it came in the form of her shouting in his ears.

"GET READY VAKARIAN! WE GOT A BIG ONE!"

Releasing the safety he asked, "What's your location?"

She gave another loud laugh and screamed in delight before answering, "I'll be coming from the west and make sure you have..OH SHIT!"

There was a loud crashing sound and Garrus saw spotted her, a blood red streak atop a silver chariot.

"Get ready! It's about ten seconds behind me!"

"Roger that," he responded before activating his armor piercing rounds.

"Contact in five...four...three...two..." came Rixa's voice over the microphone, her breathing becoming louder and more haggard in his ear.

There was a crash as a huge horned creature appeared emerged from the tree line. Garrus took a deep breath and focusing down the barrel of his rifle; took aim. His finger barely had to squeeze the trigger before his shoulder jerked back from the recoil and the bullet ripped through the air.

The round was a little off from the vital spot he was told to aim for. Through the scope he noticed a spurt of blood erupt from the creature's neck. The creature bucked wildly making it a bit more difficult to locate the chink in the its armor, but he remained calm and waited for his target to present itself. When it finally appeared, his finger squeezed the trigger quickly sending two rounds slicing through the air and into the small gaps of skin in the creature's neck. The creature stood up on its legs and let out a loud roar before crashing to the ground.

The cliff rattled from the creatures collapse sending birds flying from their nests as Rixa shouted into her comm-link.

"Holy shit! Nice going Vakarian. I'm going to have to call in a couple of transports to haul this thing back to the colony."

Garrus couldn't help but swell up with pride at her exclamation.

"Don't know what you were so worried about. I'm a professional," he boasted proudly.

"A professional what?" she asked with a slight befuddlement to her voice.

"Don't worry, about it," he responded with a laugh. "How long do you think you can feed the colony with that?" he asked while climbing down from the cliff.

"It should last the levo-based people about two or three months if it's been eating well enough. I'm not usually on hunting duty so we'll have to wait for the others to get here," she huffed, staring at the beast.

Climbing onto his hover vehicle, he kicked the engine to life and began driving toward his kill. He was lucky the cliff had hardly any roughage around it. Garrus hated driving these things. They had no control, no precision, and they handled worse than James piloting a Kodiak.

When he arrived at the kill he immediately turned off his olfactory filters. He had heard about the creatures from some of the colonists but nothing they said could have prepared him for what was in front of him. The creature was massive. Easily the size of what humans called an elephant, but from the pictures he'd seen of an elephant it did not have natural armor; nor did it sound like, "the ass end of a north bound cow," as he'd once heard Kaidan say.

The meaning was lost on him but if it smelt even remotely like this creature, Garrus was amazed that the colonists could stomach eating such an animal.

"By the spirits!" he exclaimed as he stepped away from the creature.

"Relax Vakarian, the smell doesn't take long to go away and we can leave once they come to butcher this thing," Rixa said, chuckling as she removed her knife.

She stuck the blade between the folds of the armor and cut out a small slab of meat; looking at it for a moment before activating her communicator, "Sunan? Get Marco on the line."

An hour later, Garrus was sitting on the back of his vehicle as the typical hunting squad arrived with a couple of tanks. His Valiant was resting on his lap; eyes still scanning the horizon like a hawk in search of scavengers.

"Well, well, well, it looks like you've hit the jackpot, Vakarian," growled Antius as he approached the carcass.

Sliding off of his ride, Garrus slung his Valiant over his shoulder and walked up to his kill.

"It would have gone down quicker if I hadn't missed that vital point."

"The one between the plates in the neck?" the mercenary asked, tapping his jugular.

"Yeah, it was much smaller than what your people told me," his voice thick with self-disappointment.

Antius gave a small shrug and adjusted his shotgun, "You aren't the only one who's missed that mark, son. Not to mention you've been suffering from some sort of mental issues?"

Garrus felt his mandibles twitch in annoyance. He hadn't told anyone about his attacks but he figured Rixa had opened her mouth to the older male after witnessing his attack on their way to the colony.

"Nothing serious, just the occasional headache," Garrus was not liking the direction the conversation was heading. "If you'll excuse me I –"

He was cut off by Antius' shotgun colliding with the side of his head. His vision blurred and he heard a loud ringing in his head as he staggered back. There was something that sounded like a shout, but he couldn't identify the owner. As he tried to regain his footing, Garrus saw dark shape speeding toward him. He was barely able to dodge it and countered with a kick to the owner's stomach.

Thankful that it was Antius, Garrus pulled forward and brought his elbow down on the male's head.

"What the hell is your problem?"

Antius shoved his elbow into Garrus' stomach before headbutting the younger turian and growled, "Gaining collateral."

Garrus staggered back and threw out a kick that was lucky enough to catch the other male in the chin.

"Collateral for what? That deal?"

He could hear Antius spit something on the ground before being kicked in the knee. Garrus heard something snap and howled in pain as he fell to the ground. He looked up and saw another blur of black only to feel the familiar shotgun collide with his head again.

The ringing was gone, but his vision was still shot. Reaching to his side, he pulled out his pistol and sat up. He took aim and let a series of rounds in the direction of a large blob. He was hoping to hear Antius scream in agony but was instead rewarded with a loud yelp of pain.

He'd only heard that yelp twice before; enough to know that he'd hit Urz. Cursing the spirits, he raised the gun again only to have it kicked from his hands. He could hear it clatter on the ground several feet away, but he was too focused on trying to figure out how to get the gun out of Antius' hands to worry about the location of the pistol.

"I do apologize, Vakarian," the regret in the merc leader's voice was almost as thick as the dead creatures hide, "I have the utmost respect for you and your crew; it's the only reason I'm keeping you alive."

Garrus let out a hacking laugh and spat out a bit of blood, "You have no idea who is on the other side of that portal, Antius."

Antius let out a palpable sigh, "No I do not, but they obviously value your life if they were willing to send those troops through the portal."

Tasting the blood in his mouth, Garrus mixed it with some spit and sent the blue wad of phlegm at his captor.

"The only people who will walk away from this are the civilians. You have no idea what the woman leading them is willing to do to cover her ass."

"I'm willing to take my chances," Antius waved at someone off to the side, "Get the restraints and load him into my vehicle. The rest of you get back to the base, we'll leave the kill here. I want you all back their finishing the fortifications."

There was a series of confirmations on his orders. Garrus' vision was returning and he could see Rixa being drug away. Her body was limp, but he couldn't see any blood. Though he was uncertain of her condition, the fact that he didn't see her bleeding was a small relief. When he didn't see Urz he felt his stomach drop.

"Antius, might I have a last request should things go sour?"

The older turian let out a growl, "What is it?"

Scanning the field, Garrus found the limp form of his varren a few feet from his kill. He was prepared to ask for Antius to bury the creature but when he saw the creature's chest rising slowly, his mandibles twitched in excitement. He let out a low chuckle but his elation was short lived by the sound of the shotgun being loaded with a fresh thermal clip.

"Sorry Garrus. He's too much of a risk if someone decides to let him loose. It's best if I put him out of his misery." his ice-cold tone cooling the air.

When Antius' back was turned, Garrus tried to get up, but the injury to his knee and head kept him from getting any sort of equilibrium; kept him from coming to Urz's aid.

Garrus could only watch as Antius slowly marched toward the varren. He could see Urz's chest convulsing violently, the blood bubbling out of the wounds; staining the flesh. Garrus grit his teeth and gave one last push upward, only to be rewarded with a loud snap and collapsed with a dull thud.

He could see Antius point his gun at the varren and as his vision faded he heard the sound of gunshots.

When he regained consciousness, he greeted by the sound of medical equipment beeping and let out a loud groan. He was in the colony's hospital. His head throbbed like the bass in a night club and when he tried to move he winced as pain shot up his leg.

"Well I'm alive so I guess I can count that as a partial victory," his voice was even rougher than usual; feeling like razor blades as he spoke.

There was no window in his room. Everything was quiet, save for the beeping of medical equipment and the occasional passing of a medic or cough of a patient. The lack of wounded civilians and soldiers was a good sign, but if he knew anything about Hannah she would have minimized the amount of injuries to save on medical supplies.

Flexing his hand, he was thankful that he hadn't lost his fine motor controls and searched for a remote control; letting out a grunt of victory as he pressed a random button.

"Oh, that's the stuff," he exclaimed when he felt the pain-killer enter his system.

He let it settle in his system before hitting another button. This time he heard a small buzzing sound and a familiar face rounded the corner into his room.

"OH THANK GOD!" exclaimed Karin Chakwas at the sight of him; hand covering her mouth

Garrus let out a raspy laugh before coughing from the lack of moisture in his throat, "Couldn't get me a drink could you, Doc?"

"Of course, Garrus," she laughed as she removed the hand from her mouth giving him her typical motherly smile before leaving him alone.

When she came back, she placed a few ice chips in his mouth.

"Haven't we done this before, Doc?" the cold water soothing the pain in his throat.

Chakwas let out a chuckle and put the cup down.

"That we have Garrus, but I don't mind," she reassured him.

He closed his eyes and lay back down. After a few minutes of silence, Garrus felt the urge to ask, "How many people has she killed?"

Chakwas nearly dropped her data pad in surprise.

"What do you mean?" she asked taken aback by the inquiry.

"Come on, Doc. I'm alive and I don't see Antius which means Hannah's already been here," he murmured, knowingly.

Eyes still closed, he heard the shuffling of feet as he waited for her to reply.

"Garrus…" her voice much lower, "…there's something you should know. Antius…he…" Karin's stammering was cut short by an all too familiar voice; a voice belonging to someone who was supposed to be dead.

"I took care of him for you, Garrus," the voice somberly declared.

The sniper felt his stomach drop, unable to believe what he was hearing.

_What…no…_

The pain in his head instantly dissipated at the sound of her voice and he shot up from the bed which was foolish. His stomach convulsed in protest and Chakwas was there to save the day. He was lucky that what came out made it into the bowl she provided him.

When she removed the bowl, he whispered his thanks but couldn't bring himself to raise his head.

Instead, he focused on his hands; they were actually trembling. The only time they did that was when he was having one of his attacks. He silently prayed to the Spirits that this was one of them or perhaps a hallucination or nightmare…._this isn't real…_

"This isn't real," he whispered; voice echoing his thoughts.

"Garrus, look at me," the voice requested soothingly.

He felt a hand on his arm, pleading for him to look up but he didn't dare look at it; afraid of what he might see.

"This isn't real," he whispered, beginning again; panic setting in that the injury in his head finally taken its toll, "This isn't real. This isn't real," he repeated, the edge of panic growing sharper, "THIS ISN'T REAL!" shaking his head, trying to reset himself to reality.

He snapped his head to the right and opened his eyes, hoping this was just a dream and that he would wake up. It wasn't and he wouldn't. Instead, he saw the all too familiar pair of red eyes; eyes that he spent so many hours lost in, locked with his own. Copper colored hair he'd ran his talons through so many times as she snored gently next to him. Her face, though newly scarred down the left side from cheek to neck, was just as beautiful as he remembered.

Raising a talon, he gently ran it along the scars. She waited quietly, blinking; the rise and fall of her chest with each breath were the only movements she made. His fingers were still shaking as he examined her. Her skin was just as soft as it had been when she kissed him goodbye before leaving him behind. He had so many things he wanted to say to her about everything; about what they'd gone through, about Ismene & Kevin, the rage he felt when she left him behind.

She sat there patiently as he tried to make sense of what was in front of him, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to say anything. For the second time in his life, she was sitting in front of him, a specter of a dream that he had all but given up on.

He swallowed hard around the lump that had formed in his throat; pressing his palm against her flesh.

"Is it really you?" he asked softly.

Her lips parted a bit more, the scarred flesh of her neck stretching as she smiled.

"Yes, Garrus," she replied; pressing her forehead against his, "It's me."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "It's…..it's good to see you again," her voice choking, as the words passed her lips.

Garrus could not bring himself to say the same.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 - you guys like 19? Huh? Huh? Huh? Were you happy? Because at the time I started writing this I was still waiting for the proofing so...yeah. Either way it took us 19 long chapters but hopefully the payout was worth it! Though as I write this, you all are probably more concerned about Urz at this point.

This chapter is going to need A LOT of work or it does. Especially when I'll be writing this character because...well I've technically never really wrote her! But here goes.

Chapter 20

"I always thought I'd be the one finding you in the hospital bed," he grumbled at her after a few minutes of silence.

She chuckled and pulled her head from his; opening her eyes to find his slowly scanning her while his hand ran along the scarred flesh, slowly going lower. When he reached the collar of her shirt she placed her hand over his and shook her head.

"Don't." she commanded softly.

When he tried to pull his hand free to see what was beneath the shirt, she activated her biotics and gently pushed his hands away.

"This isn't the time or the place, Garrus," she chastised him.

"Fair enough," he responded with a hint of disappointment and concern, "I was just curious to see how bad it was."

She stared him down; waiting until his hands were back on the bed before lowering her barrier. His mandibles twitched in agitation.

It pained her to push him away, but she couldn't risk him getting too close. If he saw her now...she didn't even want to think of what his reaction would be.

Instead, she took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze hoping that he would return the gesture. When he did, she let out a loud sigh of relief.

"You killed him, didn't you?" he asked bluntly; changing the subject.

The question wasn't unexpected. Leela had figured that he would ask it as soon as he could.

"Yes, I did," she nodded without hesitation.

"And Urz?"

"He's…" she paused for a moment; figuring out how to break the news when the sound of a screaming medic caught their attention. The creature bounded into view a second later; wads of bandaging trailing behind him.

Leela was nearly knocked from her chair as the varren placed his front claws on the bed and tried to lick Garrus.

"As you can see he's just fine," laughed the commander as the varren turned and licked her in the face.

"Down boy!" she said, still laughing as she pulled him off the bed.

"Sit," she commanded and the creature dropped to the ground though his tail continued to thump rhythmically against the leg of her chair.

"Good varren," she cooed as she pulled a bit of dried meat from her pocket and put in his mouth.

Instead of chewing, Urz jumped back up and put the meat in Garrus' lap; barking at the turian.

Garrus laughed and held the bit of dried meat up to the varren's mouth, "I can't eat this and you need your strength."

Urz whined and took the meat back and swallowed loudly before giving his owners each a lick on the face.

"You almost had me there," Garrus laughed as he watched Urz curl up on the ground and stare up at his owners.

Shepard shrugged and gave a small chuckle, "I was actually going to tell you that he was under observation. But as you can see, he's about as good at following orders as you are."

His mandibles twitched as he laughed and looked down at the varren. Gratitude filled his eyes as he said, "He's saved mine and the remainder of the crews' life a few times while we were on scavenging missions on the Citadel. We've grown rather fond of him."

Leela felt her heart leap into her chest at his words.

"They're okay?" she asked, sounding like Ismene when she was told she'd be getting a surprise.

She watched as he rubbed his forehead.

"Not all of them," he finally growled out.

"Tell me, Vakarian," her voice carrying the same weight as when she ordered the armada to open fire on the Reapers.

He shifted uncomfortably and looked at her, his blue eyes unsure of how to proceed.

Squeezing his hand harder she ordered once more for him to tell her what happened.

"Tell me, now," she growled back, squeezing his hand harder; ordering him to tell her what happened. She felt him try to pull away but her grip was ironclad; unwilling to let go until he told her.

Finally, his arm relaxed and he gave his own growl, "For the most part they are safe."

"For the most part? What do you mean 'for the most part'? They're either safe or they aren't Garrus."

She had to struggle to keep her voice down. If it wasn't for holding Garrus' hand, she was almost certain she would have been screaming at the top of her lungs.

She could hear the low rumble of his purr in her ears as he rested a hand on her cheek.

"It means we lost a few of our friends, Leela," he explained gently; trying to ease the blow.

Her heart clenched in her chest and she was barely able to choke out, "Who did we lose?"

His nostrils flared, but she didn't look away as he began the list. She listened quietly as she heard him tell her the details he knew: Jacob repelling an attack on the Crucible during the final siege, Miranda dying while serving with her fighter team, Javik's sacrifice, Tali losing her leg, and Joker's injuries that left him bed ridden for several months.

His voice continued to drone on as he if he was checking names off of a list.

"ENOUGH!" she screamed, unable to take the casual tone of his voice any longer.

Garrus grew quiet and she felt Urz press his snout against her arm.

"How can you be so casual with about this? They were our _friends_, not names on a list," she choked out, tasting the salt of her tears.

She tried to choke back her sobs but couldn't. Feeling his talons make their way through her matted hair to scratch the skin beneath, her composure began to return but she couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks as he spoke.

"I was in London, Leela," he began evenly; "I was there when they began finding the bodies. I helped bury some of them. I saw the faces of people we helped," his voice becoming rougher; cracking under the weight of the words, "While you've been here, I was back on Earth and the Citadel ensuring that people were able to survive. I can talk about them like that because I've seen the results and it's one of the few ways I can even keep sane," he finally ground out tersely; the brutal reality behind his words clear.

"So, that's what this comes down to?" she gasped out softly between sobs, "You think I stayed here choice, don't you? Is that what you're trying to say?" she finished spitting out the question; a coldness spreading in her chest, realizing what the answer could imply.

He turned his head away, confirming her suspicion; feeling the coldness wrap around her heart.

"I didn't mean it like that," he responded, his usual timber sounding more like a child who'd just been caught in a lie.

"Don't bullshit me Garrus. You never say anything without meaning it," she snapped; the cold turning to anger, but the hurt, the hurt drowned it all out.

She could feel her fingernails digging into the palms of her hands.

"You think I_ liked _sitting here not knowing what was going on? You think I _enjoy_ having to relive every single day the decision I had to make on the Crucible? Of thinking that I led all those people to their deaths and thinking that I was that I was going to spend the rest of my life stuck on this God forsaken _fucking _planet?" she spewed angrily.

She could see the discomfort in his eyes.

"I've spent three _F__UCKING_ years of my life cut off from everything, Garrus. Two," she reached out and sharply turned his face to hers; holding up her scarred fingers, "of which I was clinically dead. This past year? I spent six months in the bed _you're_ sleeping in while Aki and the other medics patched me up," she ground out hoarsely through clenched teeth.

"Did they even know who you were?" he asked quietly, resting his hand in hers; gently calling for a temporary truce.

"Antius knew," she sighed squeezing his suede like hand; silently giving into the truce, "I was supposed to be a bargaining chip."

"You mean he was going to attempt to strike a deal with the Reapers?" asked Garrus, his voicea mix of shock and amusement.

"Apparently he didn't get the memo that the Reapers didn't make deals," remarked Shepard with a grunt of disgust.

They both shared a chuckle before falling into an uncomfortable silence, neither one sure of how to proceed with the conversation. The gentle droning of medical equipment and the hushed chatter of the medics the only noise

Finally mustering up the courage to continue, Shepard opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a sudden commotion at the front door to the hospital. She could hear muffled voices from outside the front doors and climbed to her feet, only to be frozen in her tracks when she heard the doors burst open and a chaotic orchestra of voices flood in.

"Admiral, please!" pleaded one of the medics, "This is a medical facility and your presence is causing deal of stress to our patients."

"I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A FUNERAL HOME!" snapped the intruder, "YOU FIND THE COMMANDER AND YOU GET HER OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"

_OH SHIT!_

It felt like somebody threw a bucket of ice down the back of her shirt. Her eyes widened at the sound of the voice. Instinct taking over, she immediately tried to make a break for it but something kept her from making her get away. Turning in frustration, she saw Garrus had caught her by the arm; keeping her from making a strategic withdrawal.

"_Let me go, Garrus!_" she hissed frantically; trying to separate herself from the turian, "This isn't funny. My life is in danger."

The turian shook his head, mandibles twitching in excitement as he laughed, "Sorry, Shepard but I think you need to face this."

She pulled on his grip, cursing at him.

"Goddamn it Garrus! Let me go!" When he didn't, she growled and activated her biotics; instantly separating his vice like grip from her arm.

"I'll be back later," she whispered hurriedly; praying that she had enough time make her escape.

She was wrong.

"You aren't going anywhere, _Commander_," the admiral growled at her back.

Shepard's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, while Garrus chuckled in his bed. She glared daggers at him; imagining all the different ways she could kill him for delaying her escape.

Letting out a groan like a teenager caught sneaking in after curfew; she straightened her clothes before turning around, bracing herself for what was to come.

The sudden stinging her face received was expected but didn't make it hurt any less. She wasn't going give her assailant the satisfaction of seeing her in pain.

Instead, she stood up straighter snapping her heels together, and saluted the admiral.

"It's good to see you too, Mom."


	21. Chapter 21

So now onward to 21...yeah...onward...that's that. Lots of swearing lately...huh...

Chapter 21

Shepard hadn't felt this sick since that night when she was seventeen. Her mother even had the same scowl on her face. It was amazing, here she was almost thirty-four years old and she felt like a kid waiting to be punished. The room her mother had brought them too reeked of tobacco and in a strange way it was rather comforting.

She remembered when she was a kid sitting with Hannah in the lounges of the ships they'd been stationed on. Every time her mother came back from a mission, they'd eat, they'd play games, and after that they'd head to the lounge to watch the stars shoot pass them as they flew. She would always fall asleep in her mother's lap and though Hannah never smoked around her daughter, the lingering scent of the leaf was always on her.

This interrogation wasn't what she expected. Instead of Hackett, the Council, or any other person with political clout, she was sitting with her mother in an empty dining hall. The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife as the commander waited in anxious silence; the scent of tobacco all but welcoming.

"So," her mother began lighting another cigarette. Shutting down her omni-tool she flicked a bit of ash into the tray and leaned back in her chair, eyes narrowing on her daughter.

"So what?" asked the commander, the hair on the back of her neck standing up at her mother's tone. It was the same tone she'd heard that morning when she was seventeen. There was a weight to the question. A knowing weight, but just how much knowledge was in her mother's head was a mystery and Shepard decided to play it safe.

The admiral's nostrils flared as a steady stream of smoke billowed around her head. Her red eyes were glowing in the dim light giving her a demon like appearance.

"Don't play stupid with me, Commander," her voice, a growling roar in the empty hall and Shepard felt a cold sweat begin to accompany the standing hairs on the back of her neck.

"I have eye witness accounts and testimony from Antius' men that you were well aware of who was in this colony from the moment they made contact with the away team," her cigarette shook between her fingers.

"Which makes me wonder why the _FUCK_ it took you so damn long to make a move to help them?" she bit out, exacting each word with a violent tap of her finger.

Relaxing slightly, to show that she had nothing to hide, Leela calmly stated, "I was moved from my quarters into a small holding cell when Rixa and Aki first made contact with Samara."

Her mother made no movement at the answer, telling the commander it was safe to continue.

"Samara had told them who she was and what she was doing on this planet. Rixa immediately reported it back to Antius," she paused for a moment to gauge her mother's reaction but the only movement the admiral made was to dispose of her smoldering cigarette and light up a new one. When it was apparent she wasn't going to get one, she continued, "Upon receiving this news I was removed from my duties in the mess hall and locked into the previously mentioned holding cell by a couple of Antius' men biding my time and gathering intel with each changing of the guard."

Hannah's eyes flickered momentarily.

"What information did you obtain, Commander?" she asked, her tone cold and even; unconcerned that her daughter had been held prisoner.

Coughing loudly, the commander straightened in her seat before continuing.

"It was there that I learned that several of Antius' guards were concerned about the wellbeing of the colony," her voice, although steady and strong, held a slight quiver, "Many of them held a grudge against him for using so many medical supplies to fix my injuries. Others were concerned that he was slowly becoming paranoid about the possibility of a Reaper attack."

The admiral chewed on her lower at this little tidbit, a sign of her taking in a new portion of the equation. "I had heard about this from Garrus' reports." She took another slow drag of her cigarette before asking, "But I'm also concerned as to why he decided to save you?"

"Nearly a year ago," began the commander, her voice shaking slightly as the memories flooded her mind. "I made the decision that ended the war. I was caught..." she stumbled; the memory of the final gunshot ringing in her ears "I was caught in the explosion inside the Crucible," she continued as the memories continued to flash.

The admiral's eyes widened slightly at the break in her daughter's voice, but she made no move to help her though her hand twitched as she fought the urge. The concern in her mother's eyes gave Leela the strength to continue.

"I was...badly injured, "she gasped as the scars on her face and chest began to burn. "I was... found by...Keeper," letting out a loud gasp out as the image of the green creature dragging her through the burning wreckage flashed into her head. The memory was so vividly real; she felt the smoke fill her lungs setting them on fire. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, her vision blurred. She could hear explosions and feel the ground scraping her forearms as the Keeper continued to pull her away from the Crucible. She began to whispered a prayer her father had taught her when she was young; her voice a ragged series of coughs and before she could finish. She felt one final explosion before the world went black….

"Leela. Leela please wake up," the voice called through the blackness.

Her mind raced and sudden pain shot through her body as she attempted to open her eyes.

"Mom?" she asked, her throat felt dry and burned as she spoke. "Why am I on the floor?"

"You passed out." stated an all too familiar, yet slightly annoyed voice.

"Doctor Chakwas?" she asked her voice raspy and confused.

"Who else would it be, Commander?" the doctor retorted, chuckling; her footsteps growing closer. "Your mother called me as soon as you hit the floor. You've been out for about twenty minutes in case you were wondering."

Pushing herself up, the younger Shepard clutched her head as a searing pain shot through it.

"Did I hit my head?" she asked with a wince, her other hand massaging her throat hoping to would reduce the burning sensation.

"No you did not," replied the doctor, "for which I am eternally grateful. I've hard enough time keeping Garrus from taking one too many to the head without having to worry about you all over again."

There was a hint of laughter in the doctor's voice and the commander chuckled.

"Thanks a lot, Doc. I'll be sure to keep that in mind the next time you decide to risk our lives by getting drunk in the med bay," Leela retorted.

There was an irritated grunt from behind her and the doctor gave a nervous laugh and quickly gathered her supplies. "Well then it seems that the commander is not having any memory problems, so I'll be leaving you two alone now."

"Are you okay?" she asked; returning her attention to her daughter and resting a hand reassuringly on her back.

Waiting for Chakwas to leave, Leela nodded, "Yeah," she croaked out, her throat still burning, "I could do with a drink though."

A canteen instantly appeared and she gave a dry laugh.

"Always prepared," she smiled as she downed the contents washing away the burning in her throat.

"Well it's a mother's duty to be prepared for any kind of emergency," she laughed even though Leela could see the concern still in her mother's eyes.

The gaze was making the commander uncomfortable and removing her lips from canteen asked, "Is everything okay?"

Without hesitation, the admiral's arms pulled her daughter against her body; squeezing her, terrified to let go. Her body racked with sobs, soaking through the thin fabric of her daughter's shirt.

"It's okay, Mom," Leela whispered gently as she freed her arms from her mother's tight embrace and pulled her close.

Hannah shook her head and sobbed, "No it's not."

Lifting her head, she pressed it to her daughter's and sniffed, "The first time I see you in years and the only thing I can do is slap you."

Shepard hadn't seen her mother in such a state since her father's death. Leela was the only person who'd seen her mother this weak and it scared her every time. Her parents were the source of her strength and the remainder of that strength was crumbling before her.

"Why didn't you come back to me?" Hannah pleaded.

Leela felt her own tears rising as she wiped away her mother's.

"I'm sorry. But, it..." she let out a loud breath, "it just wasn't possible."

Nodding the admiral separated from her daughter and smoothed her child's hair like she had when she was younger and smiled at her.

"I know sweetheart," the admiral planted a wet kiss on the woman's head and gave her another hug, "It's just hard to believe that you're still alive."

Feeling her lips curl upwards, Shepard laughed, "Well I did have you and Dad to show me the importance of staying strong and coming home to the people you love."

The admiral sniffed loudly and laughed. "I'm not sure how much of a help I was seeing as how I always fussed over you."

The commander gave her mother a gentle punch in the arm.

"You give yourself too little credit. I've read some of your files. I don't know everything, but I know that while Dad may have given me my training, I got my brains from you."

"Flattery, my only weakness." smiled the admiral as she pressed her forehead to her daughter's.

"Well it's true." said her daughter with the same grin, "How the hell else would I have been able to keep sane while running those ships?"

Hannah laughed loudly and wiped a tear from her eye, "I've read your reports. You did have your hands full. Especially with Jack, she's a lively one."

Shepard's eyes widened with fear at the thought of what happened when her mother and Jack met for the first time. "You've met Jack?"

"I've kicked her ass, young lady." boasted the admiral with a flex of her arms.

Covering her mouth with her fist to cover her laughter, Leela asked, "How the hell did that happen?"

Leela listened in silence as Hannah told her stories of how she'd traveled with Garrus and her crew on scavenging. Shepard felt her heart sink again, being told for the first time how much she'd missed. While she'd been on an operating table, her friends and mother had spent their days cleaning up her mess and searching for survivors.

Her guilt; however, was overridden by shock when her mother explained how the arrival of Garrus and the others at the colony was not part of the original plan.

"So, you're saying that Garrus and the others coming here was a fluke?" her daughter asked breathlessly; surprised.

"Possibly," responded Hannah rather nonchalantly, "We're unsure of the details but I'm not arguing with the results," she squeezed her daughter closer to her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Shepard nodded, "I'm alive, Mom. I've found you and I know that I didn't fuck everything up, so I'd say I'm doing pretty well."

"I don't think that little episode you just had would be filed under the category of 'pretty well'," her mother scolded.

"Well if you'd like, next time you have questions I can find a way to reprogram this and you can go sifting through my memories," Leela reached into her pants and pulled out a small device.

The admiral took the item and examined it; silver, rectangular with a small blue core.

"What is it?" asked the older woman as she gently ran her hands along its smooth body looking for any possible way to open the device for study.

"It's called an 'echo shard'," responded the commander, a small hint of contempt in her voice as she glared at the small device, "It allowed the prothean people to store their memories so others may learn from their experiences."

"I take it you can use it because of that 'cipher' thing you told me about?" guessed the admiral, her voice thick with fascination that such a tiny object could possess such power.

"Yeah, it was given to me by Javik, the Prothean that fought beside us," she said taking the item from her mother, her fingers trembling as she stared at it, "I've seen a lot of things from the last Cycle - painful things," she said her voice filling with anger remembering all the death the Reapers had caused.

"It activated when I asked you about how you lived, didn't it?" interrupted Hannah, trying to steer her daughter away from the memories of the war.

"Yeah," she spat as she put the item back into her pocket, "The fucking thing is only good for reminding me of how much of a failure I am."

A loud thwack echoed throughout the dining hall as Hannah's hand made contact with the back of her daughter's head.

"The fuck did you do that for?!" snapped the younger woman rubbing the now stinging flesh under her matted hair.

The admiral gave her another smack earning another curse from her child before snorting, "Why the hell would you say you're a failure?!"

Her voice was heavy with pride for the first time since they met and Leela could see some of her mother's strength returning.

"That's not what Garrus seems to think," the commander chuckled, giving a lazy shrug and slouching.

A deep rumbling emanated from her mother's chest as she growled, "What did he say to you?"

The hairs on the back of the commander's neck stood up once more at the threat in her mother's voice.

"He didn't say anything, Mom - except what I wanted him to say."

"What happened?" the fury in her mother's eyes slowly shifting to concern.

"I blew up at him when all he did was give me the information I asked for," the commander sighed, rubbing her temple.

"What information was that?" Hannah asked cautiously.

"Our friends...and Earth," muttered Leela, her face contorted in pain; scratching the back of her neck.

"And somehow this translated into you being a failure?" inquired the admiral, the confusion on her face growing as she attempted to understand her daughter's logic.

"I don't know," sighed the commander running a hand along her face as she spoke.

"Well then how did he make you feel that way if all he did was give you information?"

"I don't know!" Her frustration boiling over, the younger woman snapped, "Why don't you go and ask him yourself since you seem to like him so much. Hell, why don't you just take my place! That way he won't have to guilt trip me into feeling like a bigger piece of shit than I already do!"

The admiral's left hand flew again. This time Shepard was prepared for it and dodged the blow only to have her mother's right hand make contact with her face with a small pop.

"What the fuck was _that_ for?" howled Leela as she felt the sting on her cheek.

"Because you're acting like a god damn child!" snapped Hannah, nostrils flaring.

"I'm not acting..." the commander meekly said, taken aback by her mother's response.

"Bullshit!" snapped Hannah, "You are acting like a child thinking that just because you weren't there on Earth, he doesn't care about you anymore."

"Yeah? How do you even know that he cares about me?" snorted Leela in disbelief.

"You know about the injury he took to the head?" asked the admiral rapping her knuckles against her graying hair. "The one responsible for him being knocked out for a few days and that requires him to have excess fluids drained every couple of weeks?"

Leela nodded, "Yeah, Chakwas said he nearly died from it," taking a deep breath, she added, "She said he saved some soldiers life and had a couple hundred pounds of concrete land on him. It was a miracle he survived."

Her heart clenched in her chest at the mere thought of Garrus dying, but her mother made no comment on her reaction.

A devilish smirk crossed the admiral's lips.

"Well, then you also know that they had to keep him on heavy medication until the swelling went down," she winked at her daughter; chuckling brazenly, "Let's just say your boyfriend is rather handsy when he's under the influence of hospital grade drugs."

A jolt of electricity shot up the commander's spine at the seductive sound of her mother's voice.

"What did you do?" gasped the commander as the tightness in her chest loosened. She could feel the blood pounding in her ears as her heart raced at the possibility of what her mother might have done to the turian sniper.

The admiral chuckled at the panic in her daughter's voice and winked.

"I didn't do anything. Your," she poked her daughter hard in the chest, "boyfriend was the one hitting on me," her finger pressed against her chest as her smile grew.

"Oh Jesus," groaned the commander, nausea overcoming her as her mind raced at the possible events that transpired between her mother and boyfriend.

"Oh what's crawled up your ass?" the admiral chuckled as she leaned back in her chair; a smug, knowing smile on her face, "He was the one who started it; telling me about how nice my hair smelled."

"I'm not hearing this," whispered the commander as she shook her head in an attempt to block out her mother's voice.

"And about how he wanted to take me to a tropical beach when he got out of the hospital," continued the admiral, her voice filled with glee at the sight of her daughter's discomfort.

"I think I'm going to be sick," retched the younger woman as her mother continued.

The admiral laughed and snapped her fingers suddenly remembering the best part.

"Oh! He also mentioned about wanting to lick lime jell-o off my..."

"Okay, I've had enough of this." said the commander, her voice heavy with disgust.

She proceeded to get out of her chair only to be forced back down into it. A small twinge of pain shot up her tail bone the moment her butt hit the seat.

The commander's eyes remained locked on the door in the far corner of the room. Her mother's hand held hers tightly, but slightly loose enough to let the commander know she was free to leave if she wanted.

"Leela, will you look at me?"

"What?" she turned in her chair with a sigh.

"He does love you, Leela. More than anything."

"When did he tell you this?" snapped the commander not believing her mother's words, "When he was drugged up?"

"Not exactly drugged," admitted the admiral with a sheepish grin, "We had drinks one night after that mission into the tunnels and ended up having a little heart to heart about you."

"And?" she was not amused that her mother had gotten drunk with her boyfriend.

"And what, young lady? We talked, shared a few drinks, and he told me everything: your adventures, the time you spent together before the Omega Relay," her voice lowered, "and he told me how you kept him from going down a very dark path."

Her daughter made a comment about that and settled back in her seat but there was something else that her mother wasn't telling her.

"Mom, what else did he tell you?" she asked through gritted teeth, her fingernails digging into her mother's hand.

Her mother made no sign that she felt pain; instead Leela saw a familiar look on her mother's face. It was the look that told her that her mother and Garrus had had "the discussion'.

"OH MY GOD!" Leela exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock "YOU TALKED ABOUT _TH__AT_!?"

Hannah raised her hand and placed a reassuring hand on Leela's shoulder.

"To be fair I kind of brought it up."

"How do youkind of bring up the fact that I had," her hands waved over the front of her body, "_that_ done to me?"

"I stopped before I said anything. You know how I get after I have a few sifters of brandy," the admiral sighed and whispered something about needing another pack of cigarettes.

"Of course, blame it on the booze," muttered the commander remembering her twenty-fifth birthday. She had written apologies to some of her senior officers that had shown up along with the months of jokes from some of her male squad members.

"Shut up," laughed Hannah, "it was my fault and he told me everything. He told me how you made him the last one to know because you were afraid he'd leave or abandon you."

"He should have forgotten about me," muttered the commander, suddenly regretting her decision to stay.

"He couldn't sweetheart," said the admiral softly, "The thought of finding you is one of the few reasons he is still alive."

"How could I be a reason he's still alive if everyone thought I was dead?" huffed the commander in annoyance.

She could see the frustration begin to appear in her mother's eyes, but once again Hannah took a deep breath to center herself.

Her composure returning, Hannah simply said, "He found your journals."

Leela felt her brain go numb with this revelation.

"He found my journals?" her voice quivering as the question fell from her lips.

"Yeah, those journals your father told you to write," confirmed her mother, "Every night I was with him he read your journals. They were the only things that kept him going," she continued with a deep breath, "but one night after a few days of not reading he got about as low as he could get and we had to stop him from...well..."

The look of discomfort on her mother's face told Leela everything she needed to know. She felt the urge to run back to the medical wing and beat the shit out of the turian for even contemplating such a ludicrous notion.

"Stupid bastard," sniffed the commander; pushing back more tears, "what the hell was he thinking?'

"I can only guess, Leela," said her mother, her strong arms wrapping around her daughter reassuringly, "But I can tell you that he just needs some time."

Shepard nodded, a sad sigh escaping her lips, "Yeah, you're right." giving a short laugh; she said, "I can do that. I mean hell, they always say third time's the charm."

The dining hall echoed with the women's laughter at the commander's comment. It was a pleasant laugh, filled with warmth; melting away the sadness that had filled the dining hall during their conversation. When they finally calmed down, Hannah gave her daughter another squeeze.

"So, what do you plan on doing?" asked the admiral as she lit up another cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke, "You going to sit here and hide like a little coward or are you going to come back to Earth and see what's happened?"

Leela's elbow jerked; making contact with her mother's ribs. The sound of the admiral choking on her recent inhalation brought a smile to the commander's face and a death stare from her mother.

Smiling innocently, the younger woman shrugged, "It slipped."

"Uh huh," smirked the admiral, her eyes zeroing on her daughter's arms as she put the cigarette back between her lips, "Still doesn't answer my question." she said, taking another drag.

Snatching the butt from her mother's mouth, Shepard took a short drag of her own before handing it back to her mother. The tobacco tasted just as bad as it had the other couple of times she'd smoked, but she needed something to occupy herself.

After a couple of more passes of the cigarette, Leela flicked the butt away and exhaled the last bit of smoke from her nostrils and asked, "What do you think I should do?"

Leaning back on her hands, Hannah looked clicked her tongue a couple of times before saying, "I think you should come back."

Shepard chuckled at the comment.

"Of course you do," she said with a grunt as she stretched her arms, popping her elbows, "So you can turn me into Hackett and the Council right?"

Hannah simply shook her head at the question.

"Nothing like that," she said, reaching out and brushing a stray bit of hair from her daughter's face; exposing the scars beneath the red strands.

The feeling of her mother's hand running through her hair made her feel like she was six years old again. Warmth spread through the commander's body as she asked, "Then why do you want me to come back?"

"I think," she began as she rested her hand on the back of her daughter's head, "_you_ want to come back; that you _need_ to come back."

Shepard laughed loudly at the accuracy of her mother's answer.

"You're right. You always are," she conceded with a defeated sigh and nodded.

"Of course I'm always right," scoffed the admiral in mock offense, "I'm your mother."

Pulling her knees to her chest, Leela rested her cheek on them as she asked her mother, "You think I can stay with you for a while?"

Her mother's arms wrapped gently around her and she felt lips press against her hair.

"Of course you can." chuckled the admrial. "Why the hell else would I have a spare bedroom added to my quarters?"


	22. Chapter 22

Okay guys, remember that this one won't have the picture attached to that. Decided to split the chapte rup!

Chapter 22

Fear was a stench Garrus had become accustomed to.

He'd smelt it on Feros when helping the colonists, in the labs on Noveria, from his men on Menae and all throughout the war with the Reapers. But never had he smelt fear as powerful as what was emanating from his former commander in the back of the Kodiak as they made their way to the conduit.

Garrus couldn't blame her. She was finally heading home. Home to a planet that had been left in ruins by a sentient group of bio-mechanical machines hell bent on laying waste to the entire galaxy almost a year prior.

It was the reason Garrus had decided to stay behind after Chakwas had cleared him fit to leave to head back to the Kevin and Ismene. Though when word reached Hannah's ears about his decision, she signed him up for instructing the colonists in the use of the weapons the galactic leaders would be sending, under the stipulation that he work with Rixa. While hesitant to work with the female, after a couple of days Garrus actually came to enjoy working with the security chief. Rixa had suffered minor injuries since Leela had taken care of Antius before could give his men the order to dispose of the female.

Still that didn't stop her pheromones from assaulting Garrus' nostrils with her lust for him. He was extremely thankful for all parties involved she did her best to keep her urges in check. Granted, Hannah's constant presence during training sessions put a damper on the female's attempts at expressing her _gratitude _to Garrus and Leela. The last an offer to allow Garrus to sire a child with her if both parties consented.

The message was deleted immediately after reading.

Leela had taken to remaining out of the lime light. Hannah had sent her report to Hackett after her daughter's collapse and they all agreed that keeping the commander's survival a secret for a while was the best course of action. This was sort of a mixed blessing for the turian.

Garrus hadn't spoken to the commander since her mother had taken her from the medical quarters the day he'd woken up from his fight with Antius. He didn't know if Hannah was keeping them apart on purpose, but Garrus couldn't help but be thankful to the woman if she was responsible for keeping him away from her daughter. He was ashamed at how poorly he'd handled himself. He had been selfish in his actions, concerned only with how he had been feeling. Garrus could barely stomach it. He'd acted like his father, concerned with only his side of the story and not hers.

He just hoped her arrival on Earth wouldn't keep him from getting the chance to apologize.

"Thirty seconds until contact with the conduit," crackled Steve's voice over the intercom.

Unsurprisingly, the lieutenant was brought on the mission at the admiral's request. She reasoned that, save for Joker, Steve was the best pilot she had at her disposal and she wasn't taking any unnecessary risks. Though the look on his face after the older Shepard had taken him aside meant that the lieutenant was well aware of the fate that awaited him if he opened his mouth to anyone about who they were bringing back.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," responded the admiral apathetically as she shut off her data pad.

Garrus could hear the anticipation in the woman's voice. Hannah was just as nervous for her daughter as he was. But where the mother kept up the facade of being collected; Leela looked as if she was going to jump out the hatch of the shuttle.

"How you holding up, Kiddo?" asked Hannah settling next to her daughter, her hand resting gently on her child's shoulder.

The commander let out a deep breath and looked at her hands; they were shaking violently.

"What do you think?" asked the commander, sounding like she was about to hurl her breakfast on the shuttle floor.

It took a moment for him to realize she was talking to him. When he did, Garrus straightened up and flexed his mandibles in an encouraging grin.

"You'll be fine." said Garrus, hoping his voice brought some comfort to her.

Leela gave him a weak smile and nodded at her mother. "Give the order."

"_You are stronger than this."_ is what he wanted to say, yet the words refused to form.

Kevin had more courage than he had at this moment. That thought made him angrier than anything. What kind of turian was he, if he was unable to comfort the woman he had chosen to spend his life with?

The only answer that made sense was that he didn't know where he stood with the woman. They hadn't had enough time to discuss their relationship and he knew that her arrival on Earth would spread like wildfire. Even with Leela staying in her mother's quarters in the underground base, people's mouths would always move, meaning that word would get out much sooner than they would anticipate. That simply meant finding enough time to have a private chat with her would be difficult at best.

"Contact with the conduit," announced the lieutenant over the intercom.

The shuttle lurched briefly followed by Steve casually saying, "Preparing to land." mere seconds later.

Shepard's quaking hands went to her hood and pulled the fabric up over her matted hair the moment the ship hit the hangar floor.

Leela was the first to stand up but her mother and Chakwas were the first to reach the door.

Taking his place behind the woman he hoped was still his mate; Garrus could see her shoulders shaking and raised his own unsteady hand. The stench of her fear and her haggard breaths were making him nervous. Still he fought through his apprehension and placed his hand on her shoulder. After a moment he felt her calm and his heart leapt.

Even if he couldn't change the past, her accepting his touch gave him hope for their future.

"Lieutenant, how many people are in the main hangar?" inquired the admiral as she adjusted her pack.

"Sensors are showing only ten people outside, Admiral," Steve reported from the pilot's door.

The pilot sounded as nervous as Shepard looked. When his eye met Shepard's, he gave her a reassuring smile and walked to the hatch.

"Looks like Hackett was able to convince the Council to empty the hangar for the night."

Approaching the hatch, the pilot let his hand rest above the keypad and gave his commander a nervous smile.

"Are you ready?" he asked his forefinger hovering above the first key.

Garrus could feel her muscles tighten beneath his hand.

"If you don't want to, we can turn around and head back to the colony," her mother's voice came from the front of the line.

It was clear by the sound of her voice the mother was just as nervous as the daughter. A few moments of silence passed as they waited for the commander's decision. It may not have been on the scale of choosing the fate of the galaxy, but to the commander it may as well have been.

"Open the doors, Steve." ordered the commander her voice as unsteady as her shoulders.

When the lock beeped, Leela's breath caught in her chest as the door hissed open. She waited, her body shaking despite the strong hand on her shoulder as the door dropped slowly; the lights from the bay flooding the dim shuttle. Shepard's head dropped; her hands reaching up to tighten the hood, blocking both the bright lights and hiding her face from the people waiting to greet them. When the dull thud of the door finally hit the ground, she was rocketed forward as Urz bolted out the door barking happily.

Familiar laughter filled her ears as each of the people waiting greeted the varren fondly. Peeking between the bodies that hid her from view, she saw her friends trying to get the attention of the varren as he darted between their legs playfully.

The only person not moving was Admiral Hackett staring at the shuttle; nervous anticipation etched into his haggard features.

Her muscles stopped shaking and she adjusted her posture into the familiar Alliance stance. She felt Garrus' hand leave her shoulder as she made her way through the hatch. The sound of her footsteps clanging on the hatch door was the only sound she could hear. She felt like a ship on autopilot. As she moved closer to them, the Normandy's crew shifted their attention from Urz to the small figure in a black hoodie.

Their voices and laughter quieted as she pulled the hood off her head.

Scratching the back of her neck, she looked up at the admiral; straightening, saluted him.

"Commander Shepard reporting in, Admiral," she said stiffly.

The crew's eyes locked on the two humans, their feet scraping along the floor as they backed away slowly. Hackett's mouth moved around a bit as if he was looking for something to say. His fingers drummed against his hands; lips twitching in agitation. Finally, after letting her suffer under the tense stance for a moment, Hackett raised his arm and saluted her.

"At ease, Commander."

When she relaxed into the accepted stance, Hackett took a few moments to look her over before rewarding her with a rare smile.

"Anything to report?" he asked his voice uncharacteristically warm.

Without hesitation, her hand flew to her pocket and after fishing for a moment she gave out a small, "Ah ha," before shoving her fist at the grizzled man.

"Please get these to Kahlee Sanders if she's still alive," she said, her voice as heavy as the tags in her hand.

"At once, Commander." was all he said before snapping a salute and turning toward the door.

The crew began to move toward her; their voices rising in greeting only to be silenced once more by Hackett shouting, "OH! And Commander?"

"Yes, sir?" she asked returning to attention.

Hackett snapped another salute, his eyes shining brightly and another rare smile on his lips.

"Welcome home!"

Leela couldn't help but return the smile as she gave him another short salute, "Thank you, sir!"

When he was gone, Shepard opened her mouth to greet her crew, only to be grabbed by a familiar pair of tattooed arms pulling her into a headlock; cutting off her air supply.

"YOU LITTLE CUNT!" shouted the biotic grinding her fist into the commander's hair.

"WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU GET OFF BAILING ON US LIKE THAT?!"

Shepard could only gasp and flail her arms in response; the thin arm tightening around her neck turning her face a bright shade of red. Grunt and Wrex fell to the floor laughing loudly at the human's misery. She should have known better than to count on them for help. Samara simply sat on the ground in mock meditation, a small smirk on her lips. Joker, Tali, and James began discussing Joker's recent test mission while waiting for the Jack to finish; ignoring Leela's choked pleas for help.

Only Kaidan and Liara made an attempt to coax the commander from the former criminal's embrace. Jack ignored them; dragging the vanguard around the hangar bay shouting obscenities at her for staying gone for so long.

Shepard was able to choke out the occasional audible answer but it wasn't good enough for the biotic and only served to reinforce Jack's punishment. The ground blurred beneath Leela's feet as she was drug along. Jack had gotten a lot stronger in the past year with her biotics on the fritz. Shepard couldn't hope to break away without some sort of god like intervention.

That intervention came in the form of a gunshot followed by Hannah's shouting, "That's enough, Jack! Let my daughter go and maybe I won't have to embarrass you in front of all your little friends."

Jack froze in her tracks and turned the commander loose; ignoring Leela's desperate gasping. She threw her jacket onto Leela and challenged the Admiral.

"Bring it on, you old bitch! Last time I checked, I was up three fights on your wrinkly old ass!"

Rubbing her neck, Shepard coughed loudly as a couple of pairs of hands lifted her off the ground.

"That went better than expected," laughed Liara once Shepard was on her feet.

Leela gave continued to massage her throat and gave a choked laugh, "Well, at least they're getting along."

She dared a glance at the sound of fists colliding with flesh and felt her stomach drop in time to see a splash of red fly from Jack's mouth; freshly introduced to her mother's infamous right cross. She prayed that her first night on Earth wouldn't end with a trip to the medical wing.

"Be thankful your mother isn't a biotic," grumbled Kaidan over the cheers of Wrex, Grunt, and James.

Leela could only nod at the comment as she watched the display of violence in front of her. Though she was surrounded by friends, she felt like something was missing. It was only when she took her eyes off the fight that she noticed a certain turian gunnery officer had made a silent escape.


	23. Chapter 23

To be Whole Chapter 23by *Mizutanitony

THIS IS THE CHAPTER THE ART TRADE IS FOR! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Chapter 23

As the welcoming party for the commander ran its course, Garrus stepped out of his shower and let out a satisfied sigh. Grabbing the beer he'd opened before, he drained it with little effort, gave a low burp, and stepped through the opened door to his bedroom. He had to move carefully as some of the kids' toys had ended up in his bedroom while he was away. It didn't surprise him that this had happened. Nor did it surprise him to find that the house was a bit of a mess as well.

His sister had contacted him while they were finishing up on the colony to tell him about taking the kids to the Crucible to see some of their friends for the weekend. Garrus had more than happily agreed though he wished she'd bothered to make the kids clean up before they'd left. But with the way things had been going, he was thankful for the extra time alone. He needed to get his head on straight before dealing with the kids again.

He'd missed them terribly, that much was certain, and since EDI left the colony after the first delivery he'd had no contact with them due to the lack of the QEC array. He decided that being home before them would make a good surprise even if one of the first things he'd have to do was help Ismene pick out a new outfit for her teddy bear. He shuddered at the thought; deciding he'd best get some more alcohol in his system to drive it from his mind.

Heading to his dresser, Garrus pulled out the pair of pajama bottoms Solana had bought for him on one of her trips to one of the larger human cities a couple of months prior. When she'd first given them to him, he thought she was insane and told her as much. However, a couple of nights later he put them on after realizing he had no clean clothing and found them to be quite comfortable. Solana had the garment cut a little loose for him and after a few days he officially dubbed the plaid patterned garment what humans also called, his "lazy pants". Tonight was definitely a night where he felt like being lazy.

Heading to the kitchen he removed three more beers from the refrigerator. The first opened with a satisfying hiss and he drained half of it in a couple of chugs. Wiping a small bit of dribble from his chin, he noticed the time for the first time since he'd bailed on the reunion with the other members of the Normandy crew. It was after three and he half expected a call from the base about the crew getting out of control. Thankfully, his expectations hadn't been met and he decided he'd finish up a couple of reports along with his beers.

Half-way through his second report a sharp knock came from the door. Picking up his final beer, Garrus headed to the door; his mind going through the security measures he had in place should his visitor prove to be unfriendly. When he arrived at the door, he punched in the code for the hidden compartment in the wall and pulled out the Carnifex he kept hidden. He set his beer down on the end table next to the door and cocked the pistol.

"It's three o'clock in the morning and I'm armed so unless you want end up a carcass full of holes, I suggest you leave," his voice as honest as it was threatening.

A familiar bark came from outside the door and he let out sigh of relief; thanking the spirits for freeing him of the responsibility of having to report why he'd been forced to shoot a civilian. Sliding open the door, Garrus opened his mouth only to have his words turn into a loud grunt of annoyance as the beast scrambled past him and onto his large bed in the living room. Rubbing the back of his head, Garrus pulled himself away from the wall. His mandibles flared angrily at the sight of the varren curling up on his bed and falling asleep immediately.

"Looks like we've discovered who the real master of the house is," laughed a familiar voice from the bottom of the steps that led to the front door.

"You don't know the half of it," growled the turian as he set the gun back in its compartment.

The commander made no acknowledgment of the activity and stayed where she was waiting patiently for the turian to make his move.

"What are you doing here, Leela?" his mandibles twitching slowly to accompany the annoyance in his voice as his eyes rested on the commander for the first time, "You're supposed to be staying out of sight."

"Just thought I'd see it for myself," she sighed; shrugging absentmindedly, looking up at the night sky as the moonlight shimmered off her copper colored hair.

"It's amazing isn't it?" she asked, her voice sounding truly happy for the first time since they'd been reunited.

"Yeah...it's definitely something." his voice was barely more than a whisper as he took in the sight of her skin shining under the dim glow of the desert moon.

When she finally took notice of his gaze, she flashed him a quick grin.

"So are you going to invite me in or are you going to let me freeze to death?" she asked, chattering her teeth in exaggeration.

Garrus felt his mandibles twitch as he pondered the concept of letting her in. Finally, after a few moments of uncomfortable silence he conceded and stepped to the side making room for her to enter.

"Fine," he mumbled in defeat, "but only for a little bit. I have some reports I need to finish"

This is a mistake.

"Much obliged," she laughed making her way up the stairs to the front door.

He noticed a familiar mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Aren't you going to finish getting dressed?" she asked gently rubbing her hand along his chest plates as she walked through the door.

His mandibles fluttered at her touch, the soft fingers sending a warm feeling through his chest.

"I wasn't expecting company," he replied trying to keep his composure.

"Seems you don't get a lot of company," commented the human as she stepped cautiously into the living room.

He watched her closely, taking notice of the slight limp in her step for the first time.

Probably a result of their makeshift repairs to her implants.

"Since when did you have a fascination with teddy bears?" asked the human interrupting his thoughts.

Taken aback by the question, his head snapped toward the voice; cursing himself for not noticing Ismene had left her tuxedo clad teddy bear on the dining room table.

"I can't remember," he replied hastily, hoping that she would lose interest in the animal, "Just put it down and I'll give you a ride back to the base before your mother finds out you're missing."

"Not until you tell me where you got the bear, Garrus," she snickered, hiding the bear behind her back.

"Leela, I'm serious." his voice a little higher than normal; praying that she wouldn't catch the change.

His prayer went unanswered when he saw an all too familiar devilish grin spread across her face, his blood froze. She knew how important the bear was, and that she wouldn't stop until he broke.

"You have to catch me first," she teased before rushing toward the kitchen door and toward the...  
An alarm went off in his head and he knew that he had to stop her before she reached the back rooms. Cutting through the living room, he thanked the spirits for making his legs longer. He made it with very little effort barely stopping her with a swift yank of the hood.

"Shit," cursed the commander as the turian pulled her from the entrance to the hall.  
His mandibles twitched happily at the shocked look on her face as he pressed her back to the wall; his chest resting gently against hers.

"You know," he said, his voice almost playful as he tapped his talon against her nose, "it's not nice to take things that don't belong to you."

Sticking her tongue out, the commander danced the bear in front of him. "All you had to do was tell me where he came from and this wouldn't have happened."

Garrus shook uncomfortably at the sight of the bear dancing in front of him. "Put the bear down." he snorted.

"Not until you tell me where it came from," replied Leela, tapping the bear's face against his chest; the plastic nose making little clacking noises with each hit.

Garrus opened his mouth to answer but he stopped himself. The moment had come. The moment he had been preparing for since he'd discovered she was alive and now that it had come, he felt his tongue twist into the shape of a pretzel. His mind raced as he tried to regain his composure. He could feel his mandibles opening and closing, like a human's mouth did when they couldn't find an answer. When he finally did come up with one, he was silenced once more by a question he hadn't expected her to ask.

"Is there somebody else?" Her voice was as soft and apprehensive.

The question blindsided him and confusion swept through him; certain that he'd misheard her.

"What are you talking about?" he asked hoping to regain some sense of lucidity.

She ran her fingers along the fringe of his neck as she spoke, "The way you were acting with the bear. You only act that way with something if it's something someone like..." her voice trailed off.

He knew what she was about to say. It was only natural for her to be curious of his activities while they were apart. Judging by her question, he trusted his instincts that she had remained faithful and she deserved to hear the truth. His mandibles opened slowly as he tried to find an appropriate response to her inquiry. In a sense there was someone else, two of them to be precise but this situation required a great amount of tact lest he risk losing her again. Shaking his head, Garrus used his placed his thumb and forefinger on her chin and gave her a reassuring flicker of his mandibles.

"No Leela there's...unf..." her lips were on his before he could finish his sentence.

Within seconds of their kiss, Garrus could feel her right arm sneaking its way around his neck. Her calloused fingers massaging the sensitive skin beneath his fringe while her left hand massaged its way down his chest; the destination all too clear to the pair. Her scent was as intoxicating as the feeling of her soft flesh against his hard plates. Her soft lips against the cool malleable metal that made up his own sent jolts of electricity through his brain, his mind slowly becoming clouded.

Against his better judgment, his hands begin to snake their way around her back; squeezing the soft globes of flesh that he'd grown to love. It didn't take long before she was moaning into his lips while her hips began rubbing against his thigh. The little devil in his head knew what she wanted, not one to disappoint, he slowly began rubbing his thigh against the warmth between her legs. She let out a small hiss at the contact, her voice becoming more a series of lustful moans than coherent words; the message clear as a bell to the sniper. Continuing his gentle kisses along her soft flesh, he continued his ministrations against her groin. Her soft moans filled his ears, his blood boiled and he felt an all too familiar shift in his lower plates. It wasn't until her thigh ran the fabric of his pants against his the tip of his exposed member, that he finally regained some sense of clarity. Breaking the kiss, Garrus breathed in her scent heavily before opening his eyes.

He instantly regretted his decision.

The first thing he saw was the state of her hair. It was matted and sticking to her forehead from the sweat. Her lips were puffy and her cheeks flushed with desire. The sight of her in such a state was almost too much for him to bear and he began trying to figure out a way to fight the urge to claim her right there. Finally, after a few moments his mind cleared enough for him to attempt to converse with her. The effort made all the more difficult.

"Leela...we can't..." he panted as her lips made their way down his neck stopping long enough to tease the sensitive nerves she'd discovered during those few moments of privacy together back on the Normandy.

When her dull teeth bit into the flesh of his neck, Garrus felt himself beginning to lose control all over again. He could feel himself beginning to lose the battle. The caress of her fingers on the sensitive flesh between the small crevices in his carapace he knew he'd have to take a more direct approach in controlling his urges.

"What's the problem?" panted Leela as she gently nibbled at the small bit of exposed flesh at the base of his neck ring.

He felt her left hand getting dangerously close to the waist of his pants as he finally became aware just how tight they had become. His options growing thinner by the second and he knew of only one thing that could stop him. Regaining what little sense he could, the turian shifted his tongue between his teeth and bit down. He tasted a bit of blood, but the jolt of electricity was enough for his brain to clear and create what distance he could from the human. Letting out a sigh of relief, the turian enveloped her scarred fingers and kissed them.

When he pulled back, he could barely tolerate the pained look in her eyes. The red irises couldn't hide the thoughts that were speeding through her mind, yet he could tell that she wanted to hear his words as much as he wanted to say them. Swallowing heavily, he rested his forehead against hers, his plates warming against her soft skin as her fingers gently ran along his chest.

"Before you say anything, I want you to know something," his voice was steady and even which shocked him slightly but the sorrow in her eyes did little to help him retain his courage.

Taking a deep breath, he twitched his mandibles hoping she'd see them as a sign of comfort before saying, "There is no one else."

Both their hands steadied, when the words left his mouth and he continued his courage growing again, "I want this just as much as you but to do it here, at this moment..." he paused and shook his head letting out a defeated sigh, "It wouldn't be right, Leela."

"Why is that?" she asked; the heartbroken tone of her voice made its way into his chest like a dagger, sapping what little courage he had managed to regain. He prayed silently to the spirits for to grant him the courage to tell her the truth.

The uncomfortable silence between them returned like an unwanted house guest.

Moments passed like hours as they stood there in the dim entry way; his hands trying desperately to hold onto hers as he finally gathered the strength to tell her only to be interrupted by the sound of the front door opening followed by the sound of a child's voice.

"But I want to stay up and see if he comes home," yawned a familiar six year old human dressed in red pajamas, his hands trying desperately to rub the sleep from his eyes.

They were five steps past the door when they noticed the two soldiers. The female's eyes widened in shock, as her mandibles fluttered in embarrassment. The large lump on her chest continued to sleep peacefully while the boy stared at them in shock for a few moments before raising his arms and with a mirthful grin shouted, "GARRUS!"

Shit, thought the turian as he felt the boy's body collide with his before having the air squeezed out of him. Garrus offered up a small prayer of thanks that his pants had decided to return to their original state before the child had entered the room.

"You're back!" the child exclaimed, turning to the turian female that had opened the door for him, "See Solana! I told you he'd be home before us."

Closing his eyes in frustration, Garrus prayed that this was all a dream, only shattering when he heard the child speak to the commander.

"Excuse me, Miss." asked Kevin, his tone uncharacteristically polite, a sure sign that he was more tired than the energy he had just exerted made him out to be, "but, who are you?"

Without missing a beat, Leela dropped down to the boy's level and stuck out her hand.

"I'm Leela and I'm a friend of Garrus'," a surprisingly warm, genuine smile spread across her lips as she asked, "What's yours?"

Kevin took her hand and shook it firmly; a tired grin showing off yet another batch of freshly lost teeth.

"I'm Kevin Schneider."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kevin," replied the commander returning the shake, "and might I say that is a very impressive hand shake for a kid your age," she added sincerely; feeling the boys grip.

Laughing haughtily, the boy pointed up at Garrus, "He taught me."

Garrus' mandibles flickered in embarrassment at the boy's acknowledgment but he laughed all the same when Leela gave him an astonished look.

"Did you really?" she asked with genuine surprise.

"Yes, I did." he reached down and attempted to ruffle the boys hair; receiving the child's customary dodge.

The boy stuck his tongue out at him and Garrus did the same making the boy recoil a bit at the sight of the protruding muscle. Laughing at the child's disgust, the turian pointed at the hall.

"Go and brush your teeth and I'll be in get you settled shortly."

The boy let out a loud huff before stomping off around the corner.

"Solana, do you mind helping them while I finish up out here?" he asked apologetically.

The female gave her brother a knowing wink and smile.

"It's not a problem Garrus," she said, her flitting mandibles betraying her attempt to hide her amusement at her brother's current predicament.

"Commander," she said before bowing her head lightly in greeting to her brother's mate, "I apologize our first meeting wasn't under better circumstances but it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"The feeling is mutual, Solana." replied the commander happily with the same bow of her head, "Maybe one night you can join me for drinks on the base?"

"I would like that," chuckled the teacher as Kevin called for her help finding a clean set of pajamas. The female's mandibles twitched and she let out a sigh, "If you'll excuse me, there's a six year old that seems to need reminding of how to get himself ready for bed."

"Give her to me." requested Garrus, catching Leela off guard.

Solana's mandibles flickered happily at her brother's request and she was more than happy to hand over the child.

The child made no noise save for a small grunt of annoyance as she was placed in Garrus' arms.

As he pressed his forehead against the child's, Leela heard a gentle hum escape from her lover's throat and watched as the child subconsciously returned the gesture. The child's own purr mixed with her guardian's. The room was quiet, save for the gentle melody emanating from the two turians until finally Garrus handed the child back to his sister, put the bear in her arms, and sent her off with one final kiss.

Leela watched in silent amazement at the parental tenderness of her lover had shown the child and everything fell into place. His hesitation to let her in, and his reluctance to pursue any sort of physical intimacy with her.

She remained silent as Solana disappeared into the hallway the awkward silence returned, routinely broken by the ticking of one of Garrus' antique clocks.

"So..." began Leela once they heard the door to the kids' room close.

Her hand was at her temple massaging the bit of flesh; a pained expression on her face similar to the one Liara got when he saw her trying to make sense of the stories Javik told her about the Prothean Empire.

"You went and..." she grunted out like she had just been tackled by Grunt during a sparring match.

"Yeah..." interrupted Garrus nervously absentmindedly falling into the habit of scratching his facial scars.

"They're...yeah..." were the only words he was able to form.

Garrus figured that something like this would happen. For the first time he actually felt guilty for taking the kids in and he knew why she was upset. Like many things involving their life, this situation boiled down to the Reapers and one stupid comment he made before they had what they once thought would be their final goodbye.

"Leela I'm..." he said hoping to explain himself before she did something drastic.

"I should go," she said cutting off the turian before he could finish.

Her voice was dry, cracking like the afternoon desert dirt. She turned on her heel and left without another word. Garrus was prepared to run after her; his legs already moving toward the door. It wasn't until he heard the sound of tires pulling away from the house that he felt a familiar cold emptiness in his chest once more.


	24. Chapter 24

Okay before you rag on me, it's almost the 23rd century in these games. I was watching Star Trek TNG and they got nine year olds taking Calculus. I think what Ismene has on her test is well within reason. Though truth be told, I think this is a little basic even for fifth grade level.

Not going to lie though with the mental state I've been in, I probably did more harm than good with this thing, but I don't know guys I was trying to keep myself occupied.

***holds up a glass of vodka* Nostrovia. **

**holds up Sake* Kampai**

**holds up wine* L'chaim**

**so here you go...enjoy the chapter while I enjoy my booze. **

Story: To Be Whole

Author: Mizutanitony

Game: Mass Effect

Pairing: Garrus/Femshep

Chapter 24

Ismene was nervous.

She had been asked to stay behind after class by the teacher and she didn't know teacher had said so and gave said he'd tell Garrus about how well she'd been acting with the other kids. She wanted to ask the teacher but he was busy with some of his paperwork. He was a salarian and Ismene liked him a lot. He never yelled and was always patient with their questions; but today he refused to answer her question on why she had to take another test while waiting for Garrus to come pick her up.

Ismene was becoming worried, Garrus was never late to pick her and Kevin up from school when he was able to, he was always waiting for them right on time because he when Kevin would get her from class he'd be waiting outside the school waiting for them; today was different. Looking up from her test, Ismene glanced at the clock and exhaled loudly when she saw that he was almost an hour late and returned to the test Professor Aetu had given her.

_Grandpa's hobby was making birdhouses. He always said, "A_

_man has to keep busy to stay out of trouble." Leigh wasn't sure how _

_much trouble Grandpa could get into anyway, since he was such a _

_nice guy, but she tried to listen to his advice. Besides, she liked to _

_help him on his birdhouses._

_Grandpa's shop was full of well-oiled and carefully-kept tools. _

_Whenever he used something, he put it back in exactly the right _

_place. He had rules about how he treated his tools, because he _

_hated buying something new if the old one still worked. He also _

_made sure to clean up his messes each time he worked on _

_something._

_It wasn't too fun cleaning up, but it was nice to watch him cut boards to exact _

_lengths. It was nice to see the drill put in holes for screws to go in cleanly. It was like _

_being a doctor, but with wood. The best part of building was seeing all the pieces come _

_together in the final form. Yet, even then it wasn't done._

_The last steps always included lacquer or paint, to help protect Grandpa's hard _

_work from the weather. His birdhouses lasted for years. If he didn't coat them properly, _

_the sun and rain would turn the wood grey and weak in a short period of time. No, he _

_always made sure to do things right. Even if he put rocks or other cute decorations on _

_them, it was done right and made to last._

_Grandpa was a hard worker, but he was also smart and _

_generous. He let Leigh keep the birdhouses sometimes, but _

_only if he got to help hang it up or set the post for it. It had to _

_be done just right, after all._

_The birdhouses were a great way to learn about _

_woodworking, hard work, taking care of what you have, and_

_about birds. The absolute best thing about building _

_birdhouses was that Leigh spent some time with Grandpa._

Scratching her head, Ismene continued to work on the the test when a sharp knock echoed from the door. Raising her head, she let out a loud squeak of excitement when she saw Garrus standing outside the door.

"Come in." beckoned Professor Aetu without looking up from his desk.

Stepping into the room Garrus gave Ismene a small flick of his mandibles before turning his attention to the teacher.

"I apologize for my being late, " Ismene could hear the discomfort in Garrus' voice as he spoke, remembering how frustrated her dad would get when his bosses called. "There was an issue with a weapons shipment."

Ismene watched as the teacher got up from his desk to shake Garrus' hand.

"It's my fault, Officer Vakarian. I shouldn't have called for you to come to such an important meeting at the last minute."

Ismene was too focused on her test to pay much attention, but what little she was able to poick up of their conversation it had something to do with the test she was taking. After a few more moments, Ismene let out a satisfied sigh and removed herself from her seat. Walking over to the adults, she let out a low cough bringing a stop to the adult's conversation.

"Yes, Ismene?" asked Aetu, looking down at her with a warm smile.

"I finished my test." responded Ismene meekly holding her datapad up.

"Thank you, Ismene." Taking the test, Aetu gestured to a seat in the corner saying, "Please make yourself comfortable Officer Vakarian.

Her spirits lifting, Ismene ran to the corner and pulled one of the large office chairs in front of the teachers desk amd rolled it in front of the teachers desk.

"Sit please." she ordered with an exaggerated sweetness telling Garrus she wanted to get the discussion over with as quickly as possible.

Taking the offered chair, Garrus allowed the child to climb into his lap.

"You said you had something important about Ismene we needed to discuss?"

"An extremely important matter, Officer Vakarian. Of that I am certain." He set down his datapad and removed another from his desk and gave a nod at Ismene. "Though I would prefer that Ismene would occupy herself while we have this discussion."

"If you didn't want her to hear this," snapped Garrus, a deep rumble growing in his chest, "why didn't you wait until after I had put her to bed or schedule it when I could find someone to watch her?"

"That is a valid point and I apologize once again for the inconvenience." replied the teacher, his voice steady showing no fear at the Garrus' attempt to intimidate him. "I shall remember that for future reference, however," he handed Garrus the datapad he recently removed from his desk, "I believe stored on these datapads is worth the inconvenience.

An hour later, Ismene was standing in the hallway her face buried in Garrus' leg as he finished talking to Aetu about setting up a few more tests for Ismene to take. Garrus had looked mad when the teacher had made the suggestion. She felt his chest rumbling like her mothers had when she was mad about something and she didn't want him to be mad at her. She loved Garrus, she missed her parents but Garrus was a good person and he loved her and Kevin even if he never said it, she knew. Except now she was certain she'd done something that would make him not love her.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention." said Garrus as he gripped the teachers hand, "I'll be sure to look into the matter after this weekend."

"That is all I ask of you Officer Vakarian." smiled the teacher returning the handshake. "Ismene is a wonderful child and I just want to see her succeed."

Gently tugging on the child's arm Garrus jerked his head at the teacher and clicked his throat. "Say goodbye to your teacher."

Garrus watched as Ismene turned away and whispered something under her breath.

"Ismene, you know better." reprimanded Garrus his voice elevating while giving Ismene an admonished look.

"See you on Tuesday, Professor Aetu." the child mumbled barely looking at the teacher.

Bending down, Aetu gave her his usual warm smile and patted her head. "Have fun over the next few cycles and try not to dwell on what you heard us talk about. I promise you that we will find a way to get through this."

With that they left the school and went to their vehicle where Garrus secured the child into her seat.  
As she let herself get strapped in, Ismene couldn't help but ask, "Am I in trouble?

"Why do you think you're in trouble? Did you do something wrong in school that the teacher didn't tell me about?" he asked, his voice growing sterner with each word.

"No," she replied with an anxious flit of her mandibles at his interrogation, "I didn't do anything wrong, but you looked mad when Professor Aetu was talking and I don't want you to be mad at me; because if you get mad at me then you might send me away." her words blending together in a rush.

Disheartenend by her words, Garrus took a few moments to collect himself. "I'm not mad," He said a deep breath and gently stroked the spot at the base of her neck, feeling her relax at his touch. "I'm not mad at you for anything and I'm not sending you or your brother anywhere. I'm just a little worried about what the teacher told."

"Are you sure?" doubt still lingering in her voice.

"I'm sure, Ismene." replied Garrus with a deep purr. "You and your brother aren't going anywhere."

"Good," she purred back.

"So do you feel a bit better?" inquired Garrus after he was certain she'd calmed down.

"A little bit." she replied apprehensively. "Are you sure you aren't mad at me?"

"I'm not 'mad' at you about anything Ismene." sighed Garrus echoing in his voice. "I was upset."

"What's the difference?" inquired the child innocently gripping the datapad he kept in her seat.

.

"Mad is a lot like being angry." replied Garrus after ruminating over how best to proceed with his explanation. " It means you're feeling mean or you want to lash out and hurt someone, or breaksomething"

"Then what's 'upset'?" asked Ismene, eyes bright with curiosity.

"Well," began Garrus scratching his chin searching for the right words. "Upset can mean you're mad, but in this instance it's more like being sad. Not the kind of sad you see humans get when they cry, but sad like you feel helpless about not being able to control the situation."

"Like you were the morning after that lady left?" asked the child as she began doodling on the pad.

"Yeah, something like that." Doing a mental double take at the remark; stunned that she was able to come to such a conclusion.

"I said something bad, didn't I?" remarked Ismene after a few moments of tense silence.

Leaning in close, Garrus rubbed one of his mandibles against hers making the child giggle. Laughing back he rested his head on hers and said, "You didn't say anything wrong, Ismene. You were just curious and there's nothing wrong with asking questions about things you don't understand."

"Okay." purred the child rubbing back before asking, "Does that mean we can go to the toy store now?"

Garrus let out a loud groan. He'd been fighting a headache for the past couple of days, which meant he would have to get someone to watch the Ismene. The thought of being in a store with a bunch of screaming children exacerbated his the pain even further.

"I don't know if we can do it..."

"But you promised, Garrus!" pouted the child, arms crossing and a low whine emanating from her throat.

"I know." groaned Garrus doing his best to avoid the doe eyed look she was giving him though the battle was lost before it had even begun.

"All right," feeling nothing but contempt for himself at losing a battle of wills to a four year old. "We'll go."

If he had been made of glass, Garrus was sure he would have shattered from the child's scream.

Twenty minutes later, Garrus was standing in what was a combination of a toy store and play center; head pounding from the howls of playing children. When it finally became too much he pulled out his pill bottle and downed a couple tablets.

"Mind if I get one of those?" asked a familiar voice.

"Joker, how have you been?" chuckled Garrus when he took notice of the approaching human.

"I've been better." he sighed setting down his bag of purchases and set his crutch against the wall. "We're about ready to approve one of those new drives." He said with an exaggerated groan and rubbed the base of his spine. "Which is good news for me since I just pulled a twelve day round trip to Rannoch. "

"Twelve days?" whistled Garrus in surprise. "You must have been pushing the new drive cores to their limit?"

"Well, you know how these fingers are magic when piloting a ship." laughed the pilot, wiggling his fingers.

"Joker," laughed Garrus shaking his head. "I don't need to know about how good you are at fingering a ship."

As they laughed, Joker took notice of a female clerk giving them a disgusted look and shouted, "It's okay ma'am! The ship he's talking about is my girlfriend!"

The look of horror the woman gave them only served to fuel their laughter.

After a few more moments Garrus was able to calm himself down enough to ask, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I just never get tired of seeing people's reactions." sniggered Joker breaking what little self control Garrus was able to regain.

"What's so funny?" panted Ismene, interrupting the chortling pair.

"Nothing, Small Fry." replied Joker, wiping a stray tear. When he'd finally calmed down enough, Joker crouched down and began examining the clothes Ismene had selected "These look to be a little small for you." remarked Joker. "You expecting to get a new brother or sister?" he asked winking at Garrus who snorted in reply.

"No," giggled Ismene with a flutter of her mandibles, "these are for Teddy, Uncle Joker."

"Such a shame." tsked the pilot hearing Garrus' irritated grumble.

Letting the turian stew over the joke, Joker pulled a tiny pair of shorts and a tee-shirt and held it up to his chest.

"So what do you think? Think Aunt EDI would like it?"

"Those are too little for you." giggled Ismene covering her face.

"Really?" asked Joker looking at the outfit. Taking his hat off he pulled the shirt off the hanger, stretching it as much as he could over the back of his head without ripping it. "I think it's just the right size."

Ismene nearly dropped the pile of clothes from laughing so hard. Unable to hold back a chuckle, Garrus stepped away from the wall and began inspecting the clothes the girl picked out.

"Ismene." Garrus lightly scolded when he reached the final outfit. "How many did I say you could get?"

The child backed away clutching the outfits tight to her chest. "You said three," she counted out the outfits and held them up. "See? I only got three. Do they cost too much? I can just get one or two if they're too much."

Shaking his head, Garrus took the clothes and pointed at the racks. "Go pick out two more."

A loud trill erupted from the child; her arms wrapped around his waist before running away.

"Never took you for one to spoil the kids." Chuckled Joker as he watched the child head toward the clothing racks. "Or is it because she shares more similarities with you than your other one?"

"That has nothing to do with it." Hissed Garrus defensively; hands tightening around the clothes frustrated at Joker's insinuation that he was giving Ismene preferential treatment because she was Turian.

Joker could tell that he had crossed a line.

"Sorry," he apologized lowering his hat around his eyes, "That was low, even for me."

"Yeah it was," Garrus said, reluctantly accepting the apology.

They remained silent for a few moments as Garrus tried to collect himself Joker tried to find the right words to make up for his insensitivity.

"Garrus, I didn't mean that." said Joker trying to pull his cap down even further.

"You were only saying what people are already thinking," responded Garrus, shaking his head.

"Doesn't mean it needed to be said."

"I'm fine, Joker, " said Garrus, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "You shot straight with me and I respect that."

Joker snorted loudly. "Me? Respectful? I'm getting soft in my old age."

"You've always been soft, Joker." chuckled Garrus giving Joker a gentle shove.

With an embellished hiss, Joker shoved back, "Speak for yourself crab boy."

"Crab?" asked the turian with a threatening click of his talons. "Don't push me, Moreau."

"OKAY! YOU WIN!" grimaced the human stepping back; hands raised in defeat.

"Damn right, I did." laughed Garrus triumphantly.

"So, what's with spoiling her today? Usually you hate that bear." laughed Joker as he watched Ismene dart in and out of the racks.

"I do hate the damn thing." grunted Garrus while Joker laughed at the remark. "But, she's been having a tough time lately, so I thought she would enjoy a little spoiling."

"Both of them have had a tough time, Vakarian." "Still, they've come a long way since you took them in."

Garrus exhaled heavily his mandibles giving one quick twitch. "Well from what her teacher said, it hasn't been enough."

Watching as Ismene talked with a couple of her school friends, Joker asked, "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are they saying she's a bad kid?"

"No, he's not saying that." shaking his head in reply.

Before he could expand on the subject Ismene bolted from the racks, a small bundle of clothes wrapped in her fist.

"Garrus!" She shouted colliding with his legs knocking him off balance against the wall.

"I found two more!"

"All right," laughed Garrus patting her head and taking the clothes; her happiness wiping the conversation he'd had with the teacher from his mind. "Now how about we go pay for these and the get something to eat?"

"Can Uncle Joker come over?" Pleaded Ismene pulling on Garrus' shirt.

"What do you say, Joker?" asked Garrus picking her up off the ground. "Care to spend the evening with us?'

"I dunno," Joker said with feigned disappointment, "I seem to recall having a rather important meeting in the morning."

"Please, Uncle Joker?" Pouted the child, tears welling in her eyes.

Giving Garrus a wink, Joker made a motion as if deleting something from his omni-tool."Well what do you know," exclaimed the pilot, "it looks like my schedule just cleared."

Ismene became so excited that before Garrus could stop her, she tumbled from his arms, only to be caught by Joker at the last possible second.

A few hours later, Garrus and Joker, who was nursing a reset shoulder courtesy of the shopping centers first aid station, were sitting on the deck of Garrus' prefab unit. The sun was setting and the two were watching Ismene run around with the bear, now dressed in its new overalls and straw hat; Urz chasing after them barking loudly.

Joker laughed sipping at his beer, while Garrus watched in contented silence while Ismene attempted to climb on the varren's back to no avail.

"So," grunted Joker continuing their earlier conversation, "about what you and her teacher said."

"Yeah, that." grumbled Garrus taking a sip of his water his eyes still locked on Ismene as she now attempted to have the bear sit on Urz's back. "The teacher wants her to get tested."

"Tested for what?" Sputtered the pilot; beer dripping down his chin.

"Dyslexia." simply Garrus his eyes darting back and forth across the yard, keeping an eye out for anything that could climb over the fence.

"No shit?" exclaimed Joker watching Ismene successfully lead Urz across the yard, one hand keeping the bear now situated on the varren's neck. "Why does he think she needs to get tested?"

"She's having trouble with her language exercises." lamented Garrus, remembering the datapad the teacher had showed him earlier.

"Did he even take into account what's happened over the past year or the fact that she's five?" asked Joker, turning his attention to Ismene.

"He has," grumbled Garrus setting his drink down on the deck. "but from what the teacher said all the other kids are fine when left alone. Ismene on the other hand..." his voice trailed off as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand.

"That sucks, Garrus." apologized Joker

"Sucks doesn't even begin to describe it, Joker." Suddenly as if on cue, Garrus' right hand began to shake violently; knocking his glass over and causing it to roll off the edge of the deck and shatter.

"Are you okay, Garrus?" asked Ismene running up; the bear flopping on her shoulders.

"He's fine, sweetie." answered Joker, shooting Garrus a scathing look, "Just stay there while I get this cleaned up."

Garrus hid his hand while Joker cleaned up the mess.

Once she was given permission to approach, Ismene onto the deck and nuzzled the older turian. "Is it your injury?"

Nuzzling back, Garrus nodded. "Yeah, but it's all better now. See?" he held out his non-shaking hand.

"Now go inside and pick out a couple of vids for us to watch."

"Okay." replied the child skeptically before turning her attention to Joker. "Uncle Joker, are you going to stay?"

Giving her an affectionate pat on the head Joker nodded. "Yeah, I can stay. Aunt EDI's outta town anyway so I think I can stay the night."

Giving both adults a quick hug, Ismene disappeared into the house with Urz.

"That's pretty fucking low; lying to her like that, Garrus." hissed the pilot after shutting the door.

"I didn't lie, Joker." Garrus held up his right hand which was now shaking considerably less. "It's already starting to pass."

"Don't bullshit me, Garrus." scoffed Joker eying the hand. "You're going in for treatment on Monday once Doctor Chakwas has come back."

"I don't have..."

"I'll watch her," interrupted Joker with a wave of his hand. "I don't have to leave on my next mission to Tuchanka for a week so I can watch the kids while you get yourself fixed up."

"What's on Tuchanka?" asked Garrus with a loud grunt as he stood up.

"You don't know?" said the pilot, his eyebrow arching.

"Apparently not since I had to ask you." grumbled Garrus opening the back door and heading into the kitchen.

Scratching the back of his neck, Joker let out an agitated groan, "I have to pick _ her _up from Tuchanka."

Garrus' hand stopped at the handle to the cabinet where he kept the snack foods. He took a moment to process the statement before gathering some items before pulling a bowl from another cabinet.

"So?" huffed the turian pouring some chips into the bowl "She's a grown woman, Joker. She can make her own decisions."

"Yeah, but..." began Joker taking the bowl filled with levo-friendly chips.

"But, nothing." said Garrus pulling some drinks from the fridge.

"Garrus it's been almos two mon..."

"She's the one who walked out the door, Joker not me." snapped Garrus, gathering the drinks and a couple of snacks off the counter. "And she's more than welcome to walk back in it when she's ready to talk about it.

"Garrus."

"I don't want to talk about it right now, Joker." hissed Garrus, exiting the kitchen. "I have more important things to worry about right now, and if you don't want to go home to a cold bed, I suggest you drop the matter. Deal?"

"All right, deal." conceded Joker. "Just thought you'd like to see if you could get the time to come along since the conduits are being shut down for maintenance."

"Joker, what did I just say?" sighed the turian setting the drinks down on the coffee table and handing a bottle of water to Ismene who was curled up on the couch.

"Thank you." said the child opening the bottle and taking a sip; eyes never leaving the screen as Garrus placed her in his lap.

"Sorry." huffed the pilot as he grabbed a bottled water off the diFollowing suit, Joker picked a drink up and settled on the couch next to his friend.

"Thank you." laughed Garrus in relief. "Glad to see we could finally come to an agreement."

When he was sure Ismene wasn't looking, Joker reached out and tapped Garrus on the shoulder.

Garrus turned his head only to be greeted with a middle finger extended in rebuttal.


	25. Chapter 25

So I'm going to try and write again...here we go.

It's been awhile since I've written anything so...bear with me guys okay. The next few chapters are Leela centric so, I'm taking my time with it. I'm sorry if this isn't ideal...but I got a lot of things going on guys so hopefully you can be patient with me.

Chapter 25

"I still don't understand why we need the female here? It's bad enough that we have slagging turians and salarians here with us."

Leela looked up from her data pad at the krogan sitting across from her. It had been a week since her arrival on Tuchanka. She was more than willing to do what was necessary to finish the negotiations the Council members had requested she sit in on. When she arrived, she found Wrex more than willing to sit down and discuss the expansion of Krogan territory rationally while other clan leaders were more expressive in their desires to start their own colonies. Hence why she was so glad the Krogan in front of her was the last one she'd be dealing with before heading back to Earth.

"What does my being a female have to do with anything Agni?" inquired Leela setting the pad aside. She was seated to the right of Wrex who was at the head of the table with Grunt on her right, the younger krogan glaring daggers at Agni for talking to her in such a manner. She appreciated the gesture from her comrade, but it was unnecessary. She'd encountered this problem before when dealing with other clan leaders and had expected as much from them so she let it go.

"In my opinion," replied the krogan with a heavy grumble, "it's of little consequence. However," he pointed at the Wrex, Grunt, and a few other clan leaders who had decided that Wrex was choosing the best path for their people, "this is a matter between Krogan and our former enemies. Not humans."

"I beg to differ, Agni," growled Wrex, his gaze narrowing on the other clan leader. "All of us here have found these proceedings to be quite necessary if our people are to survive."

"Of course you would," snorted Agni his eyes darting between Leela and his opponent, "You and that little tank-bred have been their pets for so long..."

"WE ARE NOT PETS!" roared Grunt rising to his feet; nostrils flared.

Around her Leela could hear the low, worried whispers of the salarians and the deep flanging rumble of the turians' throat registers. Wrex and the other clan representatives remained quiet and to many they would appear rather stoic in their gestures. Leela knew better of course. Years of fighting with them had given her a deeper knowledge when she saw a slight adjustment in Wrex's posture and knew what he was thinking. While the other members of this small council were concerned about having to take military action, she knew Wrex was thinking about what he'd have to do to appease the other clans should Grunt lose his cool. They were sitting on Krogan sacred ground where only once in recent memory had a Krogan dared attempt to shed the blood of a fellow warrior only to have his own blood spilt by the one he sought to kill.

Still, Grunt's youth and inexperience showedand while it was only conjecture, Leela knew from a few of her intelligence officers that Agni would attempt to bait Grunt, hoping that his hotheadedness and youth would override any sense the younger Krogan had in his head. Should the plan work, then Agni could make any request of Wrex that could suit his needs.

"Grunt," snapped Wrex, "Sit down! NOW!"

Wrex's voice echoed throughout the hall, but Grunt remained standing, too stunned at what he had just heard. His clan leader was telling him to stand down from an enemy; one he knew could be a likely threat. Turning his attention away from Agni, he gave a pleading look to Shepard.

"Battle Master," protested Grunt, "He's insulted you and our clan. He needs to be reminded of his place."

"He will be reminded, Grunt." replied Leela with a reassuring smile. "He knows that he is in no place to make any demands of us or the Council." She could see the confusion still swimming in Grunt's eyes and added, "He is simply trying to goad you into attacking him so he can gain some amount of leverage in the negotiations." She turned her attention back to Agni and chuckled, "Isn't that right?"

"What makes you so sure that I hold so little power?" spat the krogan; slamming his fist down on the table. "I'm the leader of the Brodasi Clan and we are..."

"You're the leader of a tiny clan with nothing to offer." finished Wrex, laughing along with his allies.

"AND WHOSE FAULT IS THAT!?" roared Agni slamming his other fist down even harder on the table.

"The Reapers." retorted Leela, indifferent to the ripple of distress.

"Rear-Admiral," cautioned a familiar voice, "you would be wise to watch how far you dig this hole."

"I appreciate your concern Primarch." laughed Leela with a courteous nod to Victus before turning her attention back to Agni; eyes narrowed and teeth clenched, "but he needs to be reminded of who he is dealing with."

"Do not try to threaten me, Human." scoffed Agni pulling a data pad from beneath the table. "I have seen the medical reports. You have denied much of the reconstructive surgery recommended for you to return to active combat and your biotics aren't as powerful as they once were." His lip curled in a derisive grin, "You are no more of a threat to me than a child with a toy gun."

"Can I see that medical report?" asked Leela extending her hand. Agni tossed it to her and with a gentle application of her biotics, the pad floated into her hand and she read it quietly to herself before laughing, "This medical report is from when Doctor Chakwas first found me on the colony I was held captive on."

She handed it to Wrex who looked it over and laughed along with her.

"What's that have to do with anything? The reports are accurate." snapped Agni his frustration slowly getting the better of him.

"In one sense they are Agni," chuckled Leela twirling the data pad on her middle finger, "I have refused full reconstructive surgery on my cybernetics which will keep me from fighting on the front lines. But my biotics," she activated a small field around the data pad, obliterating it, "are as strong as ever and I can safely say that you are about as much a threat to me as an ant is to a boot."

His eyes locked on the biotic field containing the dust, Agni let out low chuckle at the tiny human in front of him, "Prove it."

"Name the time and the place, Agni." agreed Leela allowing a quick flare of her biotics. "But, let me just tell you one thing," she snarled as she stood up, a biotic field pulsing around her body, "Choose your next words carefully; because whatever little scheme you have rattling around in that," she pointed at his head and smirked, "hollow shell you call a head, will fail and your clan will suffer the consequences of your actions."

"My clan will die before they agree to your terms." hissed Agni; a familiar blue glow beginning to pulse around him.

"Agni if you would just listen to our terms you will see that..." announced Victus, his flange growing louder betraying the steady tone of his voice.

"Hold your threats, Turian..." began Agni as his biotics began to shake the table.

"We are not threatening," interjected Major Kirrahe from his position next to Victus. "A threat implies that we may not act. However, should you choose to follow through with whatever plans you have with your people..."

"I will personally oversee the end of your plans myself, Agni." confirmed Wrex without missing a beat.

This revelation did little to calm the fury they could see boiling inside Agni. It didn't take long for that anger to explode out of Agni in a biotic rush. His powers flaring, Agni shot forward toward Wrex, a primal roar echoing off the walls of the ancient cavern. In that moment, instinct overtook reason and Leela shot forward with her own biotics, her tiny frame slamming into the massive eight-hundred pound mountain of muscle. Luck was on her side as she sent herself and Agni past Wrex. She felt her body slam into the ground and heard the loud thud of Agni's body land only a few feet away. Pushing herself up, she let out a small painful groan as she turned to see Agni clutching his stomach; retching loudly as he tried to get to his feet.

"Are you all right, Shepard?" asked Grunt appearing above the shaken human; his toothy grin scrunching the scales around his bright blue eyes.

Nodding, Leela took the hand her former disciple offered her. She felt herself being lifted effortlessly and a little too quickly. Her head spun as she felt her knees buckle and reached out for Grunt who caught her; asking if she was able to stand. Taking a few breaths she nodded and straightened up.

"Yeah," she exhaled loudly. "Just a little winded. Damn implants are still taking their toll on me."

"That's a shame," chuckled Grunt jerking his head back toward Agni, "I would have loved to see what would happen if you were at full power."

Looking past the mound that was Grunt, Leela watched as Agni was escorted from the meeting hall, his face shadowed in defeat.

"He'd probably be dead," she said simply.

"As he damn well should be." sneered Grunt; his tongue brushed along the front of his teeth at the mere thought of Agni's death.

"Why does he deserve death?" asked Leela turning her attention back to Grunt. "He was doing what he thought was best for his clan, isn't that what the Krogan have done for several generations?"

"We can't afford to have any weak links." snorted Grunt at Shepard's comment.

"So he deserves death?" Leela's eyes locked with Grunt's steely gaze.

"His actions would have made our people weak." contested Grunt, "You heard Kirrahe, anything that goes against the plans that we have set deserves to be annihilated !"

"Do you remember what Wrex said?" reproached Leela, straightening herself a little more.

"He said that he would deal with the dissension."

"And did you hear Wrex say in what manner he would deal with them?" retorted Leela. After a moment Grunt shook his head. "Then what makes you think that death was in any way a part of our plans?"

She watched as the remaining hope for battle in his eyes flicker.

"You, Shepard."

"Me?" Leela asked surprised, "Grunt, when have I ever given you the impression that I would kill because someone had a different opinion?"

"You're a soldier." he answered promptly. "You chose the life of a soldier;to kill in order to fight for something." His frustration was beginning to overtake him, his voice slowly rising. "You led us into battle. You united a galaxy to fight against the Reapers in order for us to survive, hell you sacrificed Mordin to allow the entire Krogan race to flourish." His voice was growing steadily faster as the words tumbled from his mouth. "You, yourself have shown that the sacrifice of a few is forgivable for the majority to live. That is the duty of a soldie; to kill to maintain the peace of your people. That was why you joined the Alliance isn't it? To extinguish those preceived to be a threat? And now you tell me, as my Battle Master, that this is no longer the case?! Why is this situation any different? Why shouldn't we make an example of them!?"

"Because Grunt," hissed Leela; her biotics flared out of instinct knocking Grunt back. "We are better than that."

Grunt let out a growl but said nothing, she knew he wouldn't. Even with an entire company under his command, Shepard was still his Battle Master and when she spoke he would always listen.

"Yes, as a I soldier I have killed for the sake of peace. I led us to war, I asked people to lay down their lives and have even lost mine in the process. BUT," she added quickly, cutting off any chance for him to argue. "You have seen how I operate Grunt, and you know that if there is a way to avoid bloodshed I will do whatever I can to do so."

"Agni," she said, her finger snapping at the door, "was trying to make his life better for his people. The Krogan are still divided Grunt despite the victory against the Reapers. There is still too much bad blood between the clans. That is the purpose of these meetings, to find a way to dissolve those grudges. If we continue to kill them, just because they disagree then what hope do your people have of ever becoming more than just pawns to be used during another crisis?"

She watched Grunt; his large eyes flicking between her and the wall behind her trying to hide what was going on inside him. She knew that look, the struggle that was going on inside him. It was the same look he had when he was trying to make sense of what had been building up inside him when they were fighting the Collectors.

The battle between his blood and his mind.

After several tense minutes she watched as his eyes calm; the eagerness for blood slowly ebbing away as he nodded in concession. "You are right, Shepard," he lamented, avoiding her gaze. "His death would serve no purpose."

"Grunt," replied Leela acknowledging his concession, "I'm not denying that you make an excellent argument. You're right in saying that this peace is worth fighting for. As someone who has fought beside me and led people into combat you have every right to say those things."

"But?" asked Grunt, knowing that everything she had said before would mean nothing in a matter of moments.

"But," she answered wearily, "I think for now, at least for the rest of my life time, we're doomed to obscurity."

"I don't like the thought of that, Shepard." snorted Grunt after a few more moments' palpable silence. "I don't like it one damn bit."

"You don't like the thought of having to fight without me saving your ass all the time?" she laughed, poking him in the ribs with her elbow.

Grunt's head snapped around; lip curled and eyes burning at her. "I've saved your life more times than I can count."

"You've saved my life more than four times?" Grunt's lip twitched violently as a loud growl thundered from his chest as she smiled inwardly at the familiar fire returning to his eyes. "Did I hit a nerve, Grunt? I'm surprised you'd let the words of a small delicate human like me get you so upset."

"Don't toy with me, Shepard." scoffed Grunt spitting a large wad of saliva on the ground. "Agni may think he could have taken you, but I know for a fact you've had some of your implants fixed and even without them," his lip curled in a smug smirk, "you're about as delicate as the ass end of a thresher maw."

"You really think you can go toe to toe with me?" challenged Leela shoving Grunt's shoulder.

"Name the time and place, Human." accepted Grunt, the fire in his eyes growing brighter at the chance to fight his Battle Master.

"Twenty-one hundred hours at the bar followed by the training hall at twenty-two hundred." replied Shepard after a couple of moments thought before adding, "If we're able to walk of course."

Grunt stared at her for a moment. She could see the wheels in his mind turning as he processed what she had just said.

Finally after a moment, the Krogan slammed his fists together and chortled, "Wouldn't miss it, Shepard."


	26. Chapter 26

Title: To Be Whole  
Author: MizutaniTony  
Game: Mass Effect  
characters/pairing: Garrus/FemShep  
Disclaimer: Owned by Bioware

So it looks like you guys have enjoyed 25, that's good. Sorry the next few chapters will be short but again, I'm working with newer stuff, primarily about Leela but I'm just trying to figure her out a little more that's all. And I apparently fell into some very old, and very bad habits when writing this one….hence it took much longer to edit. *sighs* and I'm certain a couple of people heard about it as well. not my best chapter

So...here ya go guys.

Chapter 26

There are few places in her life Leela had ever felt truly pressed she had no trouble telling anyone that she would always felt safest in her bed. Whether it was her lumpy one aboard the Normandy, or the one in her mother's quarters, she never had trouble falling asleep. Whether it was alone during a firefight or curled up next to Garrus, when she fell asleep she always felt safe.

It was when she was asleep that things went to hell, when she became vulnerable.

When she was asleep she couldn't fight them; the memories that would come flooding back. Her childhood, Akuze, the Blitz, Sovereign;every night she would be haunted by these memories. Some nights she would wake up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. Other nights, she would find herself buried in her mother's chest, her face stained with tears. Then, there were the nights she'd wake up shouting for him only to remember she was alone with only Boo, her hamster, for company.

Last night had been such a night. She'd come home, showered, and gone to bed just as she had every night. This time hoping that she'd get a good night's sleep, but it never came. It ended up as it normally nose filled with the smell of rotting flesh, and her ears echoed with the sounds of people's screams as enemy forces lay waste to them. It was only thanks to the blaring sound of her alarm that she was saved from having to see their faces pleading for her to save them.

Her eyes snapped open and immediately began scanning the room for any sign of intrusion. Reaching over, she shut off her alarm and let out a sigh of relief when she heard nothing but the sound of Boo's wheel squeaking. Satisfied with the conditions her room, she opened up her omni-tool and flipped to her itinerary, finding it empty for the first time since she'd come back from Tuchanka. It had been an interesting trip to say the least, and more trouble than she thought it would be the moment she'd set foot on the newly re-commissioned Nairobi.

Though she'd never officially seen combat, the Nairobi had been found limping near the outer edge of the Sol system nearly six months prior to picking up her most recent passengers up from Tuchanka. Most of her initial crew had survived despite the ship being barely intact. Her weapons had been destroyed and her plating was barely intact. When the ship was found, her crew had gone into temporary stasis to conserve power and oxygen. After they had been woken up, the crew gave their reports about how they had been attacked by a Reaper only to be saved by a red blast of energy.

Once they'd been debriefed, much of the crew had immediately signed up for the task of getting the Nairobi back in fighting shape. Though a little unnecessary, the ship had been retrofitted with the latest equipment thanks to the Council's idea of using the ship as it's newest diplomatic vessel. What would originally have taken almost a year, took only a few months thanks to the zeal expressed by not only the ship's crew but the engineers assigned to it as well. Asari had supplied the luxuries of Thessia and Illium for visitors' quarters. Salarians, Geth, and Quarians offered up tactical instruments and medical equipment. Humans, Turians, and even Krogan offered their help in supplying armaments and defensive equipment. When she was finished, the Nairobi had changed as much on the inside as the people who had worked on her; Brought together by a common cause to help stabilize the peace that had been so hard fought.

From an outsider's perspective, things looked calm, almost serene. Several species coinciding with one another; Krogan delegates were rubbing elbows casually with turians and salarians, joking about what they would do once they got off ship. Asari and humans were discussing the latest news to come in from the outer systems and what they were doing to help in getting them the supplies they needed. Though the peace and unity was strong, it was just as fragile though nearly shattered thanks to the antics of two of the admiral's closest friends.

Since they'd landed on Tuchanka, Kasumi and Liara had been at one another's throats. Neither of them said why, but Leela had her suspicions. Her main theory revolved around Liara jealous that Leela had brought Kasumi along on such a delicate mission. Given the thief's past, Leela could see the problem. Kasumi wasn't necessarily known for being the most loyal person as her loyalty was bought more often than not. Yet, despite Liara's urging to leave Kasumi on Earth, Leela had brought the thief anyway and her trust was well placed.

Kasumi had proven herself more useful than Liara on several occasions thanks to her years of working solo. She was quiet, fast, efficient, and didn't require a team or several steps to achieve her goals. This made her the ideal candidate for gathering the intel needed to strong arm the agreements that Wrex and several of his allies were traveling to the Citadel to present to the Council.

When Leela had explained this to Liara, the asari had taken it as an attack on her character and stormed off in a huff toward her quarters. For several days during the trip, Leela had tried to talk with her friend to explain her reasoning only to be met with silence. One time, Leela had tried using voice altering software she'd gotten from Kasumi. This turned out to be a bad idea as Leela had ended up in a pile on the floor while Liara locked herself in her quarters for the remainder of the trip.

The one time she did leave her room Liara's temper got the better of her and nearly started a war.

Leela had just loaded up her third plate of one of her favorite meals;, a dish consisting of fried chicken, chili sauce mixed with onions and cream of mushroom soup, and a huge pile of rice. She had been certain this wasn't part of the standard menu since there was only one person who knew how to cook this meal. It sent a warm, familiar feeling through her as she took in the scent of the spices. Picking up her knife and fork, she began cutting into the large thigh. She had barely put the meat into her mouth when she heard the ruckus.

Letting out a loud sigh, Leela set down her utensilsexpecting to see a krogan fist fight and instead was met with the sight of Liara standing over Kasumi; teeth bared and biotics flaring. All around them were krogan shouting for them to take their fight to the sparring mat that the soldiers used down in the cargo bay. Sighing, Leela wiped her mouth and tossed her napkin down on the table and headed over to where her friends were.

"All right you two,." sighed Leela, hoping to quell the violence that permeated the air, "you've both had enough fun for the evening."

"I don't think what I have in mind for her could be considered fun, Shepard," seethed Liara, her eyes following the movements of the now recovered thief.

"Liara," whispered Leela taking a step closer to her, "I would strongly advise you to not go through with whatever you have planned for her."

"Don't you dare think you can tell me what to do Shepard," hissed Liara sounding a little too much like Benezia for Leela's taste. "You are not in command of this vessel and I am not a member of your crew; which means you have no power over me."

"You're right," confirmed Leela as she waved to a couple of C-Sec officers that had been watching them. "But they are here to keep the peace and since I'm still a Council Spectre who can speak on their behalf, I am confining you to your quarters for the remainder of our journey."

"You wouldn't dare!." growled Liara, her biotics flaring only to have them quelled by the sound of guns powering up.

"I am, Liara." replied Leela, her voice matching Liara's. "And if you think the Reapers got on my bad side; just wait until you see what happens to those who betray me."

"I'm not betraying you, Shepard." answered Liara, her voice softening, almost pleading with her former love.

"Then go with them,." requested Leela, her fingers softly brushing against Liara's. "Please."

After a few moments of silence, Liara gave a curt nod and left with the guard; head hanging as she entered the lift. When she was gone, the crowd dispersed and Leela turned toward her table, ready to finish her dinner which she was certain was stone cold by now.

"Thanks for running interference Shep," chuckled a voice from behind her.

"Don't worry about it," exhaled Leela, her hands shaking from the small rush of adrenaline still coursing through her veins. "I was just doing what needed to be done."

"That's our Shep." laughed Kasumi clapping her friend on the shoulder. "You sure you're okay?" inquired the thief noticing the shaking in Shepard's shoulder's.

"Adrenaline," grunted Leela, before taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Always happens when I think there's going to be a fight."

"I think it's more than that,." smirked Kasumi tapping her nose.

"You're good at your job, Kasumi,." chuckled Leela, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "But this is dangerous ground you're stepping into."

"Don't worry about me, Shep." laughed Kasumi with a small bow, "I know when to mind my own business. Although," continued the thief pulling a flask from her belt, "I also know when it's time to let loose."

"Thanks Kasumi," smiled Leela with a quick glance at the flask, "but I'm trying to cut back."

"Fair enough," sighed the thief turning on her heel as she shook the flask above her head, "you know where to find me if you change your mind."

When her friend was gone, Leela sauntered back to her table only to find her food as hot as it was when she'd received it. Glancing around she found no one paying attention to her table and simply shrugged as she sat down, digging in again as she took in her surroundings. Despite everything that had happened before the war, Leela felt good about the geth functional again. Itwas wasn't as strange a sight as she'd originally thought it would be; seeing them up and interacting with everyone. Whenever she looked at one, she was reminded of Legion and the sacrifice that he made.

With EDI, it was different. She saw no body, heard nothing about her, and no one mentioned her. Every time she saw a picture of the Normandy, one of the first things she'd think about was her friend.

She remembered how she'd explained humanity and life to EDI; about how she could find a way to be happy with Joker, the way that humans ate, the ability to tell a joke, or in some cases why humans seemed attracted to the members of the other alien species, particularly the specifics of her and Garrus. The conversations were endless, which made pulling the trigger that much more painful.

The fact that with a single finger, she'd once again ended the lives of innocents. Her thoughts drifted to the moments before the she made that final decision. The one that had changed things forever as everyone knew it. She _hated_ that presumptuous, narrow minded, logic driven, condescending quasi-childlike _thing_ with every fiber of her being. What the _fuck_gave them the right to dictate who should live and who should die?! That wasn't a decision for anyone, never mind any species, to make. It was then that she already knew what her decision was. It was simple but required a small amount of relative sacrifice. In the end, she survived; they survived and thrived in spite of it.

"But we showed you, didn't we you little fuck?" whispered Leela into the darkness of her room, a small smile spreading across her face before quickly disappearing ; knowing that getting her hopes up could probably do more harm than good.

If there was one thing she could agree with the Catalyst on, it was that to be an organic meant that destruction was how they thrived. Leela was a living example of that. Her hands were no cleaner than the next soldier's; even dirtier considering the decisions that had been placed before her. But she had had faith in her choice, and she was certain that even though things were bad now, they would get better.

She rested her head against the pillows, momentarily content with the way things were going. During her work with the Council after her return, she had seen the damage that had been wrought on several planets and . Tthe amount of lives that were still in the process of recovering from the war. It'd take decades to repair the damage; maybe even longer and while her position was more symbolic than anything, the power it granted her gave her the ability to help those in need when she could as fast as she could.

"Shit." she groaned rubbing the final bits of sleep from her eyes.

Her thoughts were now plagued by the most recent reports of her supply shipments not arriving on time. Deciding it best to contact the captain of the latest ship she'd commissioned, Leela started to sit up only to be slammed back into the mattress by a bony fist. Coughing loudly, Leela turned on her head to see a large black blob that wasn't there when she went to bed. Covering her eyes, she reached over and turned on her lamp. After letting her eyes adjust, she let out a loud groan and palmed her forehead when she saw what lay next to her. On the bed, resting on top of the covers with her hair sprawled out all over her like a second pillow, was a lightly snoring, tattooed, scarred, and incredibly naked Jack.

"Oh what the fu..." Leela started.

"Shut the fuck up, Shaun," muttered the dozing Jack absently wiping a bit of droolfrom her chin.

_Shaun?_thought Leela her interest piqued.

"Hey, Jack," whispered Leela scooting a bit closer; tracingher finger along her friend's spine, "Time to wake up."

"Go away," growled the biotic sleepily.

"Or what?" cooed Leela as she draped her arm over her friend's body.

"Or I'll...HOLY FUCK!" screamed Jack as her eyes took in Leela for the first time. "SHEPARD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED?!"

"Me?" retorted Leela, separatingfrom her friend and hitting her in the face with a pillow. "What the hell are you doing in _my_bed?"

"Your bed?!" snapped Jack, kicking at Leela only to fall off the bed instead and land with a loud thud. "What the hell happened to my wall?"

"Told you," laughed Leela as she watched her sheet's twist in the dim light of her lamp.

"Oh fuck you," snarled Jack from the floor as she tried to unwind her way out of the sheets.

"I thought that was Shaun's job?" jabbed Leela watching as her friend finally managed to free herself from her linen prison.

"What are you talking about?" barked Jack pulling her underwear back on.

"You kept mentioning some guy named, Shaun." answered Leela,thumbing through one of her books she had grabbed off the nightstand next to her.

"He's no one." said Jack, a little too hastily to be true.

"Right," laughed Leela only to receive a biotic blast to the side of the head. "What the fuck?!"

"Oh quit your bitching," snorted Jack zipping up her pants. "I've seen you take worse and..."

The biotic's words suddenly turned to hoarse gasps as Leela's arms wrapped around her throat.

"You're goddamn right I've taken worse," laughed Leela in her friend's ears. "You've gotten soft, Jack."

"No I haven't, Shepard." gasped Jack solidly planting her elbow into her friend's stomach loosening her Leela's grip on her throat.

"That was sneaky," Leela inhaled sharply, stumbling backward.

"I wasn't aware this fight had any rules," smirked Jack throwing a punch at her friend.

"Just the way I like it," gruntedLeela, grabbing her friend's hand in her arm; the momentum of Jack's punch giving Leela the leverage she needed to toss her friend over her shoulder.

"Not today." laughed Jack as she twisted in the mid-air, wrenching her arm from Leela's grip before slamming her biotically padded heel hitting the commander in the head.

A jolt of pain shot through Leela's head, but did little to dizzy her thanks to the implanted metal plate in her head courtesy of Cerberus.

"You gotta be shitting me!." growled Jack in surprise when Leela rebounded virtually unfazed.

"Metal plates , dumb ass." sneered Leela pointing to her head only seconds before she felt the wind knocked out of her when Jack's foot collided with her solar plexus.

"More reason to knock you on your ass with all those Cerberus parts still in you," jeered Jack as her elbow rammed into Leela's lower jaw. Suddenly, she felt the all too familiar sensation of a quickly created biotic barrier deflect her blow.

"What the fuck?" barked Jack as she felt her elbow bounce back harmlessly.

"Fist fight," smirked Leela as her fist met Jacks face, splitting her lip, "so anything goes."

"You're not playing by the rules?" laughed Jack catching Leela off guard with an all too familiar right cross, "Sexy."

"You're so sweet," grinned Leela as she spat out a bit of blood before countering with a left hook to her friend's jaw.

"You bitch!" snarled Jack wiping the blood from her lip.

"Again with compliments," laughed Leela; her arm cocked back in preparation for the final blow.

"What the fuck is going on in here?!" demanded an all too familiar voice.

Eyes growing wide and simultaneously mouthing _'Oh shit'_; they both dropped their arms and turned to look at the doorway. Standing with a cocked hip and arms folded, Hannah glared daggers at the younger women waiting for an explanation.

"She started it." answered Jack pointing an accusatory finger at Leela.

"Bullshit!" snapped Leela; her fingers instinctively forming a fist,. "You're the one who threw the first blow!"

"Well you're the one who kicked me out of the bed!" countered Jack; her biotics flaring out of instinct.

"Your ass shouldn't have been in my bed anyway you delinquent!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" shouted Hannah stopping the argument. "You!" she said pointing at the tattooed biotic, "My bathroom, showered, and dressed in ten."

"But..." began Jack.

"NOW JACK!" barked Hannah pointing at the door.

Without a word, the biotic shoved her way past Leela and kept her eyes on the floor as she passed Hannah.

"Your..."

"Shut up, Leela," growled Hannah, her red eyes boring into her daughter,"just shut up and get your ass ready. Breakfast will be ready in fifteen."

Half an hour later, Leela was sitting at the table poking absent mindedly at her pancakes while her mother went over paper work and Jack played with her mother's six month old tuxedo kitten, Buster. Buster had other ideas and kept wandering to walk all over Hannah's work. Finally Hannah gave up, setting her work aside and the two women began to play and talk about the small feline. As her mother and Jack talked, Leela's mind drifted back toward the shower.

The water had been a godsend and helped to dull the lumps and bruises that were beginning to form on her body. They were minor annoyances compared to the other thing that had been taken from her that morning besides sleeping in. The shower had lately become one of the few safe havens she'd had to think privately about certain things. Those thoughts allowed her to forget about reality for a while and just concentrate on not only the person that she wanted, _needed_.

"Leela?" interrupted Hannah in the same voice she had used when she interrupted Leela during a rather private momentin the shower, "I asked you a question."

"What?!" snipped Leela, prodding her pancake violently with her fork.

"I said 'what plans do you have for today?'" repeated her mother, returning her attention to her own pancakes.

Shifting in her seat, Leela took a bite of her pancake before answering, "All my meetings were canceled and Kaidan's gone on a trip with his mother so I'll probably just request a truck and head into town for awhile."

"Sounds like a plan," her mother said with a smile. "What about you, Jack?'

"I got nothing going on today," laughed the biotic as the kitten licked at her syrup covered finger. "So, I thought I'd just wing it."

"Why don't you two hang out?" recommended Hannah over the rim of her mug. "See if you two can't get rid of all that excess energy into something more constructive than turning each other into bloody pulps."

"How do you suggest we do that?" scoffed Leela glowering at Jack who paid her no attention.

"I don't know," replied her mother through a piece of melon she'd gotten from the bowl on the table. "Maybe hit the shooting range or..."

"Oh that's smart," snorted Leela, her old injury making her nose whistle loudly. "We get into a fist fight and you want us to go to a place where we shoot things."

"Watch your tone," warned Hannah, her eyes narrowing at her daughter.

"Yeah, Leela." snickered Jack as Buster tried to climb up onto her shoulder. "Watch your tone."

"Fuck you." muttered Leela, removing herself from the table and placing her dishes in the sink.

"I thought that was Garrus' job?" asked Jack shooting a knowing look at Leela. "Or have you resorted to a vibrating means of satisfying yourself?"

"It may vibrate but it packs more of a punch than your bony little fist," countered Leela grabbing her canteen from the fridge.

"Yeah well, at least I didn't have to rely on shots to grow my tits," laughed Jack; still playing with the kitten; unaware that Leela had picked up her plate.

Suddenly, she grunted and gasped sharply as she felt the slimy, sticky, half-eaten pile of fried, syrup soaked starch slam into her chest.

"What the fuck was that for?!"

"Leela! What the hell is the matter with you" demanded Hannah, doing her best to hide her oncoming smile while Jack shot a venomous look at her former commander

"I just thought she could use a little help," replied Leela as she chewed happily on a piece of melon

"The fuck do you mean help," snapped Jack trying her best to pull the pancakes away from her chest.

"Well you see, Jack." began Leela walking up behind her friend and pulling her into a tight hug; the syrup and pancakes soaking into their skin. "While I may have had to get shots to grow mine, they're still bigger than yours Bisquick Tits."


	27. Chapter 27

_September 17th 2187_

_To: Rear-Admiral Leela Shepard_

_Subject: In celebration of the upcoming anniversary of the war._

_Rear-Admiral, _

_It has come to my attention that while your orders have forced you to remain out of the public eye._

_While my staff and I respect your wishes, we however thought it might be in your interests to join us in the final moments of filming a movie about the horrors of the past several months. _

_We think that this would be an excellent opportunity for you to return to the public eye and to bring awareness to your valiant efforts in destroying the Reapers. _

_Enclosed in this email is the screenplay to the movie and while you only have a few lines toward the end, we hope that you can offer your expert opinion to the reality we hope to bring to the screen._

_Looking forward to hearing from you,_

_Duresh Knikto_

_Director_

"Where the hell do they come up with this schlock," gagged Leela as she reached the last page of the script.

"What did they send you this time?" inquired Liara as she sent off her latest orders to Feron.

"This….this…," choking on her words, Leela handed her data pad over to the asari and rested her head on the table before covering it with her arms.

"It can't be that bad," mused Liara with a raised eyebrow.

"Just read it," commanded Leela, not caring if her attempt to hide earned her strange looks from the other patrons.

As the anticipation of Liara's reaction began to eat away at her, Leela's ears picked up what sounded like stifled mews. Raising her head cautiously, Leela watched as tears streamed down Liara's face in silent laughter.

"Oh shut up!" snapped Leela snatching the data pad back and sent a quick reply to the director declining her cameo.

"I can't help it," snorted Liara covering her mouth, "this is just too hysterical."

"You wouldn't be laughing if someone had sent you something like this," barked Leela, practically throwing the data pad into her bag.

"I most certainly would," snickered Liara before taking a sip of water. "'This one thinks that you should enkindle me or or…'"

"I KNOW WHAT IT SAYS," ejaculated Leela, shooting up from her seat. When she became aware of the crowd's eyes bore into her, Leela returned to her own seat; her face and ears burning scarlet with embarrassment.

"I just don't know where the hell they find the inspiration for this crap."

"I believe the inspiration for it is sitting at this very table," smiled Liara with a reassuring pat on her friend's hand.

"More like lack of inspiration," snorted Leela, her nose whistling loudly.

"Shepard," Liara sighed frustrated with her friend, her trademark smirk gracing her lips at the sound, "it's really not that bad."

"It's a bit part in a piece of shit movie," hissed Leela drawing the gaze of several other patrons who had been pointing at her, only to hurriedly return to their meals after getting caught.

"And what?" smirked Liara after taking a bite of her salad, "You're afraid that everyone will find out you're as bad an actress as you are a dancer?"

"That's not the point Liara," snorted Leela, turning her attention back to her soda.

"Then elaborate on exactly what point you are trying to make?"

"It's demeaning to everything we fought for!" exclaimed Leela after draining her soda.

"I get that," chided Liara growing impatient with her friend.

"Then why are you defending this piece of shit?" inquired Leela, jabbing her finger down at her bag.

"Because I understand the importance of what they are trying to do, Leela." barked Liara finally fed up with her friend's attitude.

The use of her name catching her completely off guard, Leela couldn't muster up the words to defend herself as Liara began listing off her reasons behind her defense.

"I know you have been kept in the dark about many things over the past few years," sighed Liara after taking a deep breath, "but you aren't the only one who has been affected. We all have had to deal with the aftermath and for some of us, a distraction like this is needed. Yes, it's reprehensible and yes, it is a complete mockery of the sacrifices people have made. But it is not our position to judge those who wish to spend a few hours forgetting the events of the past year."

If there was one thing Liara was good at, it was putting Leela in a corner and she never wasted the opportunity to when it came to arguments like the one they were having. Those had become somewhat frequent since Leela had returned and she was becoming weary of being on the losing end. It wasn't that she wasn't sensitive to what other people were going through; she was reliving those horrors nightly, which was why she couldn't bring herself to agree to appear in the movie even if it did provide people with a few hours of escape.

Leela contemplated how to continue their conversation but suddenly noticed the change in her friend's countenance that she had missed moments earlier, too consumed by their debate over her movie cameo. Turning her attention to her friend's face, Leela watched as the asari's sapphire blue eyes slowly begin to lose their gentle light as they scanned her omni-tool. While the subtle air of confidence her friend exuded slowly dissolved into a gentle river of tears.

"Liara," began Leela reaching out to take her friend by the hand, "what's happened?"

"I need to leave," whispered Liara almost too quiet for even Leela's enhanced hearing to pick up.

"Liara will you talk to me," begged Leela as her friend began collecting her things.

"I can't," grunted Liara, the silent tears carving a gentle path down her cheeks, "not right now."

Grabbing her own things, Leela took only a second to pay their bill and followed her friend out the door and into the afternoon crowd. It took a couple of gentle shoves to make their way to the side walk and after several attempts they were able to hail a cab. Prepared to join her friend, Leela was left frozen in shock when Liara told her she couldn't come. Alarmed at her friend's sudden secrecy, Leela was barely able to utter a syllable before Liara cut her off.

"Don't ask me, Shepard," begged Liara, her voice cracking like glass. When Leela nodded, some semblance of returned to the asari's eyes and after a gentle kiss on the cheek entered her cab and disappeared.

It took several minutes for Leela to recover from what she had just experienced. It wasn't the first time she had been told something like this from Liara, it was still a punch to the stomach. She knew that this would eventually happen, her friends not needing her, but she always thought they could at least confide in her. She had hoped that after all their conversations her friends knew at least that they could trust her and yet after what she had just been privy to seemed to have shattered that reality.

_I guess there are secrets that must be kept from Shepard,_ she thought to herself as she pulled her hat out of her bag.

Letting her hair down, Leela slipped the cap on and just as an elcor, volus, and asari came walking up to her. As they approached her, Leela caught the tail end of their conversation. Apparently their company had seen a massive surge in profits thanks to their acquiring some old abandoned mechs. Supposedly the mechs had been programmed with mining equipment that was exclusive to Omega's mining facilities. The find had earned them quite a few favors from Aria who had recently arrived on the station and was all too eager to begin reasserting her power in that system. As they passed Leela, she could see the asari give her a cautious glance before hurrying her business partners along.

"Must be the scars," chuckled Leela as she began to make her way through the busy sidewalk.

Wiping the experience from her mind, Leela pulled her cap low over her eyes. She couldn't help but absorb everything she was hearing. Around her people were talking about family members that they had reunited with, home worlds that were being rebuilt, and business recovering. Every voice from a member of a different species and while she heard the occasional fight over who had done more during the war, it usually ended in the opponents laughing with one another.

Some of the stories even had Leela in fits of silent laughter as she walked by their tellers. While most had nothing to do with her, some she couldn't help but become interested in. Especially those that involved people she guessed were based on some individuals she'd fought with.

"Bullshit." Leela heard a human female of African descent, dressed in Alliance fatigues, snort into a mug of beer as she passed by a restaurant with outside seating. "One old man armed with only an M7 Avenger, a sniper rifle, and some grenades took out an entire Reaper squad comprised of Brutes and Marauders?"

"I swear it by my ancestors!" exclaimed the krogan named Lo defensively, slamming his fist on the table and causing the dishes to clatter. "The old man swung took them all out without a scratch! It was the most glorious thing I had ever seen."

"Now, now," coaxed a turian female patting the Lo gently on the head as his eyes began to grow misty from the memory, "I'm sure you will be just as brave and strong when you grow older."

"Go choke on a quad, Deia," snapped Lo picking up what looked like a leg of varren meat. "It's no less unbelievable than your story about that...what was that word she used Bahati?"

"I think it translated for me as 'blue skinned Valkyrie in blood red armor," snickered the human, causing the turian's mandibles to flutter sheepishly at the words.

"I just meant that...," stammered Deia as she fidgeted with the lip of her glass.

"It's okay, dear," Bahati chuckled as she patted Deia's hand and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I understand the appeal."

Hearing the stories brought a swelling of pride to Leela's heart, followed by a sudden and painful hollowness in her chest at the sight of the trio's affection. Deciding it best not to continue listening in on their conversation, Leela pushed her way through the crowd, hoping to avoid more of the ambient conversations. It was still a difficult thing to do though thanks to the upgrades Cerberus had given her. Even with most of her major implants barely up to the level she had during the war, the ones that enhanced her hearing were working at peak efficiency much to Leela's chagrin. Normally she wouldn't mind this but at this moment she wished that she could shut them off, if only to relieve the pain in her chest.

As she stumbled through the crowd, Leela thought she was in the clear when she caught sight of the jeep she'd borrowed from the base. Finally feeling some sense of relief in sight, Leela pushed her way past a group of people only to run nose first into what felt like a mountain.

"Sorry about that," she apologized to the obstruction.

"Don't worry about it," replied the mountain with an all too familiar rumble.

"You have got to be shitting me," said Leela, hoping that she could bypass this conversation altogether.

"Nope," chortled the krogan, punching his former C.O. in the arm.

"Ow," complained Leela rubbing her shoulder. "Watch it Grunt. My shoulder is still messed up after our little adventure."

"Seriously," snorted the tank-bred incredulously. "I actually made you unable to take a punch?"

"Yes," hissed Leela rolling her shoulder. "It's not every day I end up in a sumo match with an eight hundred pound krogan."

"Seven-forty-five," corrected Grunt puffing out his chest, "and it's all muscle save for my hump."

"Calm down Grunt," resonated a much calmer voice from behind the young krogan. "You'll have ample time to prove your strength in the coming years."

"Bakara?"

"Greetings, Shepard," laughed the shaman as she adjusted a lumpy blanket in her arms, "it has been a while."

"I'll say," replied Leela, stepping toward her friend and placing a hand on her shoulder. "How have you been?"

It was at that moment the parcel in Bakara's arms began to shift and a large scaly head with bright yellow eyes with what looked like a freshly grown set of teeth peeked out at her and let out a low whine.

"Does that answer your question?" Bakara chuckled handing the blanket her child was wrapped in, to Grunt.

"Which one is this?" inquired Leela as the child clambered up her mother's chest to hold onto her neck.

"This is Niana," explained Bakara patting the child's back.

"Really?" gasped Leela in surprise at the young krogan who was rubbing her eyes. "She's grown a hell of a lot."

"Krogans do that," huffed Grunt casting a wary glance at the child.

"Well she's beginning to look more and more like her mother," said Leela admiringly. "Hi, Nini. Do you remember me?"

Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Niana tilted her head staring at Leela for a few moments before pointing her finger at the human and with a huge smile shouted, "Aun!"

"Don't get your hopes up," snorted Grunt, his voice laden in jealousy. "She'll forget you as soon as we leave."

"Won't," Niana sneered sticking her tongue out at Grunt before jabbing a finger in his direction.

"Grunt," she said with absolute certainty before turning to Leela. "Aun."

"Very good," laughed Bakara as she extended her arms to Leela. "Would you like to go to her?'

"No," answered Niana, rebuking the offer and turning back to her mother.

"She's a little difficult after waking up from a nap," explained Bakara allowing the child to rest comfortably against her. "I think it might be best if we found a place less….populated to let her wake up in."

"I think both of us could use a break," Leela sighed casting a glance at the crowds who were busy in the streets. Rubbing her ear in hopes of drowning out the ambient noise, she turned back to the child and with a smile asked, "What do you say, Nini? Want to have some fun?"

"Fun!" confirmed the child, raising her arms so quickly that she caught the underside of her mother's chin.

"All right," laughed Leela, taking the child from Bakara who was muttering curses under her breath as she rubbed, "I know just the place for you to get into trouble."

Twenty minutes later, Leela's ears were filled with only the sounds of the blowing wind, twittering of birds, and only a few people as she and Bakara walked a small concrete path in a nearby park. While wandering the path, they kept their eyes on a large tree where Niana, who after much whining, was able to convince Grunt to play with her. He begged and pleaded for Bakara to spare him, but the child wouldn't hear of it leaving Grunt to defend himself from clumps of dirt being shoved in his armor instead of bullets.

"She's certainly grown faster than I thought she would," commented Leela as they caught sight of Niana abandoning her attempt to shove at Grunt in favor of some of the rocks surrounding the tree.

"Tuchanka is a fierce planet," explained Bakara watching her daughter with keen interest, "If we didn't develop quickly, we'd have died off long ago."

Remaining silent, the females continued to watch as Niana piled the rocks into what appeared to be small towers. Watching with keen interest, they heard Grunt ask what she was doing only to be told to wait patiently as Niana continued to build her small stone structures. When they were completed, she waved down to Bakara and Leela before turning to Grunt who simply looked at her perplexed, as if asking that was all she was doing. Shaking her head, the child turned back to her creation and began roaring at the top of her lungs as she demolished the recently constructed city.

"Well….," coughed Bakara as Leela laughed quietly to herself, "I believe it's safe to say the same can't be said for our mental development."

"I think she's developing just fine," said Leela as the hollowness in her chest slowly began to dissipate.

"They are in capable hands," answered Bakara, her voice as heavy as it was when they had discussed the Genophage. "Niana was our first hatched female and by custom it is my job to personally raise her. The same goes for Wrex and mine's first born male."

"Will you ever get to see the other children?" inquired Leela, concerned for her friend's well-being as she was about the state of the children.

"I will," stated Bakara with a happy sigh. "I may not personally raise them, but I will see them and teach them as often as I can."

"Then who will take care….."

"I said they are taken care of," interrupted Bakara, her voice nearly overshadowed by the growl emanating from her throat. "Our other children, and those born to the other females, will be raised by their mothers and older males and females who cannot bear children."

"I'm sorry," replied Leela taken aback by the sudden change in the mood. "I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just concerned."

"Your concern is appreciated," Bakara sighed, her voice growing calmer with each word. "But this is our way and it has worked for us for centuries. Our children will learn the wisdom of their elders and what it means to be Krogan before stepping into their roles as the new leaders of our people."

"You sure the galaxy is ready for you?" commented Leela noticing Niana and Grunt continuing the cycle of building and destroying small stone cities, much to the annoyance of several other park patrons.

"Wrex and the other leaders, myself included, have made a deal with the Council," grunted Bakara as her eyes narrowed on a human woman who practically dragged her children away from Grunt and Niana's play area, despite the fact that Niana was finally beginning to become bored with their game.

"What kind of deal?" asked Leela through gritted teeth, holding back the urge to give the mother a piece of her mind.

"A limitation on pregnancies," Bakara said rather flatly.

"Really?!" exclaimed Leela, shocked that Wrex and the leaders would agree to such a thing.

"Yes," answered Bakara rather curtly, beginning to walk toward her daughter and Grunt who were now playing with the small bag of toys Bakara had given them before separating from them.

"And what do you and the other females think about such a restriction being placed on you?" asked Leela falling into step next to her friend.

"It was our suggestion," stated Bakara without pause.

"Really?" asked Leela in disbelief. "From what Wrex was telling me when I saw him on the Citadel last week, you were practically throwing them at him."

"Wrex is as full of hot air as he is empty of genetic material," Bakara chuckled as she watched Niana settle into Grunt's lap. "In truth I did send several females to him, but only the ones that I knew would bear him strong children. As the leader of the clan that fought hardest against the Genophage, he has the responsibility to begin repopulating our species."

"But what about the rest of the eggs? If you lay as many as you are capable of…."

"We have control over the amount of eggs we are capable of laying," answered Bakara exhaustedly. "And even if I lay what I am capable of, the fact of them all surviving to maturity is slim given our limited resources at this time. So we settled on fifty children per female, per decade as a compromise."

"Only fifty," said Leela attempting to sound impressed.

"It is a solid number," replied Bakara, her eyes shining as they settled on her daughter who was now listening intently at the story that Grunt was telling her rather animatedly. "Large enough for us to grow our numbers and ensure our survival, while remaining small enough so as not to strain the natural resources on the planets we will colonize once they have been agreed on."

"The wisdom of the females," remarked Leela with a knowing smirk.

"Did you have any doubt of our ability to control our males?" said Bakara with a slight edge to her voice.

"Not in the slightest," answered Leela with a smile and wave of her hand. "It's a smart decision and I'm certain it will help the Council in ensuring you and your people will survive."

"We are survivors, Shepard," pronounced Bakara before casting a concerned look at her human companion. "However, I sense that your comment about our recovery is not just a compliment towards my people."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Leela huffed with a dubious glance at the shaman.

"Don't hide it from me Shepard," grunted Bakara casting a piercing stare at the human. "You're not as good at hiding your pain as you think."

"What pain?"

Reaching out, Bakara placed a hand on her friend's shoulder despite the initial jolt from Leela's barrier; she let her hand rest and said, "The pain of fading into obscurity."

"Grunt told you about that?" exhaled Leela, her barrier dropping and allowing weight of her friend's hand to rest on her shoulder.

"He did," said Bakara with a short nod. "It shook him rather violently to hear his Battle-Master speak in such a defeated way."

"I wasn't trying to scare him," lamented Leela watching as Grunt began to wrestle with Niana, "I was trying to explain to him that there are times when a warrior will not be needed to fight."

"A good lesson," said Bakara without a hint of derision, "and a lesson someone, especially a krogan, needs to learn."

"Then why bring it up?" snorted Leela, the whistling from her nose attracting the attention of a nearby stray cat. "If it is my job to teach him these lessons, then what business is it of yours in how I guide him through them?"

"I have no doubt in your ability to teach him what he needs to know, Shepard," retorted Bakara, her hand releasing from Leela's shoulder and quickening her pace.

Leela stared at the back of her friend, hoping to see her face, but instead she just heard Bakara ask, "I'm just wondering if it is wise for you to be teaching him these lessons; since you, yourself, are digging the wrong way for yours."


End file.
